Harvest Moon: River of the Underground
by Harvestboy Goobus
Summary: A death in Mineral Town is a tragedy to many people, but for ForgetMeNot Valley, it is a nightmare. For Jack Todd, it is a terror unlike anything else he has ever felt, and he will have to choose whether to face his fears or get swept away by the current.
1. Prologue

I don't own Harvest Moon or any element within it. I, however, do own any new elements or characters that I introduce to this story. And… that's about it! Without further introduction, here is the prologue to _Harvest Moon: River of the Underground_.

**Harvest Moon: River of the Underground**

**Prologue**

"What are we going to do, Thomas?" asked an elderly, balding man with round glasses. He was short and hunched over, dressed in brown gi with yellow shorts, and smelled heavily of animal dung and sweat.

Thomas, a short, chubby, similarly balding man dressed in a red suit and top hat, took off his hat and rubbed sweat off his brow with a white handkerchief. The spring had only just begun and already the temperature was climbing.

Barley, the first man that had spoken, opened his mouth again, but another man, this one tall, brawny, and rough looking with brown hair and a full beard spoke up. "If Louis dies, will the—"

"No, Gotz," a frail-sounding woman said, cutting him off. This woman was very old and had small spectacles on her nose. She was dressed in a long, old-fashioned dress, and a bonnet covered her hair.

"Ellen is right," Thomas finally said, nodding towards the woman. "_We_ are safe as long as we keep our own side of the bargain. It will not harm us."

"But what about Forget-Me-Not Valley?" asked another man; this man was very tall with broad shoulders, short, brown hair, and beady eyes, dressed in a white muscle shirt. "Is there any guarantee they won't be harmed?"

Thomas sighed and placed his hat back on his head, adjusting it so that it was straight. After doing this, he blew his nose on her handkerchief and placed it slowly back into his pocket. During this time, he never met the eyes of any of the surrounding villagers, nor did any of them try to speed him up in his reply. Finally, after straightening out his bow tie, he looked up.

His eyes were sad and weary.

"If Louis dies, its food supply will run out by the end of spring, if our estimations are correct. Seeing as it will not hurt us, it _will_ eventually go searching for food other than just berries," he said softly.

"Then we should warn them!" said the tall man urgently.

"_No_!" said Ellen so passionately that her spectacles slid precariously down the bridge of her nose.

"She's right, Zach," Thomas said somberly. "We swore to secrecy, and it isn't our place to tell anyone."

"But what about the villagers there that know about—"

"And what will happen if we tell them?" asked Barley, silencing Gotz. "Will they try to warn the others? Either way, the oath is broken and _our_ children will be in as much danger as those in Forget-Me-Not. We cannot allow that."

Silence fell upon the group and finally, shaking his head, Zach said, "This is wrong. Who are _we_ to decide who lives and dies?" When no one replied, he turned and walked towards the door of his own seaside home. "I need to do my rounds." With that statement, he walked out onto the beach and slammed the door shut with such force that it sounded more like a gunshot than a door.

"We can only pray to the Goddess that Louis survives this," Thomas said before turning. "I believe that there is nothing more to discuss in this meeting."

One by one, the committee filed out of the shack and walked solemnly across the beach. Not one of them bothered to notice the beautiful, warm day or the sounds of the waves crashing up on the sand bar.


	2. My Father's House

Here's my second chapter! And, as the drill goes, I don't own Harvest Moon or anything within it—it all belongs to Marvelous Inc. And the American names for the characters belong to Natsume or something. Does it matter? They're not mine! The only thing that currently belongs to me in this story is the planned storyline!

Oh, and, also, in all my past stories, I've always answered reviews and such. However, with the new rules, I'm no longer allowed to, so I would suggest that, if you have a question, give me an e-mail, which can be found in my profile. Thanks to all those who reviewed my Prologue, though! Anyway, on with the chapter!

**Chapter One: My Father's House**

Cliff Andrews watched the other man with interest and couldn't help but to feel sorry for him. The man sat on the dingy lawn chair, his foot tapping the ferry's deck anxiously. His head was bowed, and his eyes were tightly closed. His lips were drawn back in a grimace, but the moved on occasion, as if he was muttering something under his breath.

A peal of thunder sounded in the distance and the grey clouds miles away flashed momentarily. The ferry's captain had assured Cliff that he'd arrive at his destination long before the storm hit, but apparently this other man had not been so fortunate to hear this good news. He jerked and looked up at the storm.

He was a young man, probably barely an adult, as Cliff was himself. He had messy brown hair that hung down past his equally brown eyes. He had a clean complexion that was marked by a few noticeable scars—probably from a bout of acne when he was younger. He was also quite pale, which led Cliff to figure that he was from the city. The man wore a white t-shirt, jeans, and a pair of new brown boots.

Cliff, however, was tall and lean with long brown hair that was tied into a ponytail—a ponytail that consisted of naturally blonde hair. He was wearing raggedy clothes, a tan shirt on which the sleeves had been ripped off, black pants covered with mud and grass stains, and boots so worn that they looked as if they would surely fall apart. However, that suited Cliff just fine—they were good, broken-in boots that fit his feet comfortably.

The loudspeaker above the deck emitted a loud, piercing noise that forced Cliff, who was sitting directly below it, to cover his ears. The noise stopped and was followed by a crackling voice. "We should be arriving in Mineral Town within five minutes; get all of your stuff together."

The man looked up and, with a shaky sigh, stood to his feet and pulled his suitcase closer. He checked through his brown rucksack for possibly the tenth time on this trip—possibly just to give himself something to do—and then slipped it onto his back. Cliff however did not move from his spot. He had no belongings to gather.

In the distance, an island could be seen. The side of the island the ferry was moving toward had a small town built on it. Even from the distance, Cliff could see people milling about on the beach, catching the last rays of sunlight they'd have before the storm hit.

A girl with bright red hair was riding a jet ski, bouncing off the waves caused by the distant storm, and floating through the air with practiced grace. After one such high jump, some of the onlookers clapped. An old man fished at the end of the dock and two children excitedly flew a pair of kites. One of the children, a young girl with black hair, was successful in her kite flying—the boy with black hair, however, was having a lot of trouble. A tall man dressed a bit too nicely for a day out on the beach moved forward and tried again to help the boy get his kite into the air.

Cliff watched all of this with suppressed excitement. It was a beautiful, peaceful town that he was going to. The cherry blossoms were in bloom, spring had just begun, and, like the flora, the village had come alive with the passing of winter. This was the kind of place that he had always dreamt of settling down in—maybe this time he'd finally be able to.

The other man, however, saw little of this. His destination was not Mineral Town, but a small village on the other side of the mountain that rose up in the middle of the island. He was on this trip, not to find a new home, but to fulfill a father's dream. He closed his eyes and sighed, trying to block out the rocking boat, the lapping waves, and the rolling thunder.

He stood before a black box, about six and a half feet long and three feet wide. It was sitting on a raises platform and had flowers of all kinds of colors sitting on and around it. Beside the box was a picture of a smiling man with brown hair speckled with gray, a well-trimmed mustache, and twinkling eyes. Leaning against the picture was a small nameplate that read, "Terry Alexander Todd."

_The man who stood before the box was Jack Todd, the son of the man in the picture and the man in the casket. A cool breeze blew through the cemetery and Jack shivered, wishing that his blazer could do more than look nice. Spring would arrive in less than a month, but winter was unrelenting in its purpose of bring cold weather until the very last day. Such was one of many downfalls of living in Flowerbud City._

_The funeral had already ended, and the workers there were ready to lower the casket into the earth. They were merely waiting for Jack to be finished paying his final respects to his father. Jack reached out and laid a hand on the polished wood and closed his eyes, forcing back emotions that so desired to spill over the precipice of his heart. For a long time, he stayed like that, but he relented finally and pulled back. Looking around, he found that nearly everyone else had already left. His mother and a few close friends of his father had stayed, but the vast majority of folding chairs on the lawn were now empty._

_Jack's eyes stopped on a man that was strangely out of place in this setting. He was not dressed in nice clothes, but in a white t-shirt and somewhat ragged jeans. To Jack, the man looked more ape-like than human with a full head of messy black hair, huge bushy eyebrows that overshadows his dark eyes, and a hunched way of standing. The man was not crying, nor did his face betray any sort of emotion. In fact, he was not even looking at the casket, but right at Jack._

_Jack held his gaze and, within that brief exchange, Jack silently agreed with what the man silently requested—to talk to Jack after all was said and done. The casket was lowered into the earth, Jack shoveled the first bit of dirt onto it, and the remaining people began to clear out. Jack led his mother to the car, telling her that he would be home a bit later on, and watched silently as she drove off._

_Turning, he found the man still standing to the side, watching Jack. Jack was a little unnerved by his gaze, but steeled himself and walked towards him, determined to find out who this man was and what was so important to him as to meet with Jack right after the funeral._

The ferry's foghorn sounded and Jack's eyes snapped open. Instead of hearing waves lap up against the side of the boat, he now heard waves breaking upon the surf, excited children and adults alike running about, and the buzz of an annoyingly loud jet ski. The captain walked quickly across the deck and tied the ferry to the dock, greeted the old fisherman, and lowered the footbridge onto the dock.

Jack rose quickly, made sure that he had everything, and departed from the ferry—and the dock—as quickly as he could. Once his feet were finally back on solid ground, he breathed a heavy sigh of relief and his lips broke into a triumphant smile. He was tempted to relax a bit on the beach before continuing on with his task, but the oncoming storm silenced that temptation and, after asking directions from a bit of a nerdy looking man with red hair, he walked up the stairs that led off the beach and onto a large town square.

He heard footsteps behind him and looked back to see the other man that had been a passenger on the boat following his lead. The man acknowledged Jack with a nod and continued past him, walking towards another one of the exits to the square that, as far as Jack could tell, led to a two-story building. Jack watched him for a few moments curiously before taking a deep breath and walking in the opposite direction, out of the square.

Jack found himself on a red brick road that led past a small ranch with a sign that read, "Yodel Ranch" hanging from an archway above it. A small, brown dog barked excitedly and pulled on a chain, trying to get to Jack. He smiled at the dog and looked around, spotting a mother cow standing in the field, grazing, while a young calf eagerly suckled on her udders. A horse and its foal trotted about, whinnying and playing together.

Jack watched for a few more moments, smiling, before moving on. He came to a branch in the road—one of which continued on straight while the other turned left and went towards the mountain. Turning left, he continued to walk along the path, but stopped at a wooden bridge. A small stream babbled and flowed under the bridge.

_It's okay—it's shallow,_ Jack thought, but he didn't move from his spot. _And it has a handrail! There's nothing to worry about._ But Jack's feet remained glued to the ground, unwilling to follow his commands. Slowly, he reached out and grabbed the wooden rail that spanned the small bridge, closing his eyes. _Just take a step_, he told himself and forced his foot onto the wooden bridge. It made a soft thud, as did his other foot when he forced that one to move forward as well. It wasn't until the wooden thuds transformed into muffled crunches that Jack opened his eyes once more. He was off the bridge and now on a yellow, dirt path that moved forward before branching off to the left and right.

Jack walked down the path and saw, to his right, was an old-fashioned log cabin. A large bear of a man with a bushy beard and unkempt hair was hacking away at a log and Jack opted not to disturb him. Instead, he continued to walk down the path until he reached the fork. There, he stopped and consulted a sign planted in the ground. After reading it, he turned left again and walked quickly now down the path, finding himself walking alongside a very steep hill covered with brush.

He walked along this hill in silence. No one else was around except for the birds overhead. The bushes to his right rustled and a brown squirrel bounded out, stopping in the middle of the path and staring at him. After a few moments of silence, it turned and bounded up a tree to Jack's left. Jack smiled and continued walking, soon coming to another—and his last—fork in the road. The right led further up the mountain while the path that continued going forward led towards a narrow canyon.

Jack continued on forward and entered the canyon. The animal noises seemed to stop then as he left the meadows and forests into a rocky canyon. Rocks slipped and fell down the steep walls, their strikes echoing up and down the canyon. A breeze blew through the canyon and the echoing effect made it seem louder than it actually was.

Lightning split the sky overhead and Jack's head snapped upwards. The sky had become dark with dark grey clouds, and he felt a drop of rain hit his cheek. "Why in the _world_ does this have to happen to me _today_?" he cried. His voice echoed off the walls, creating an eerie effect. Jack sped up his pace to a jog, but as another bolt of lightning brightened the sky and as thunder rumbled so loudly that more stones fell from the walls. All semblance of composure forgotten, Jack began sprinting. His suitcase, one with, thankfully, wheels, rolled along beside him, but kept lurching and nearly toppling over with every bump it hit.

Thunder cracked once more and the few drops of rain became a downpour. Jack was soaked within seconds and puddles began to form. The suitcase grew heavier as it and the ground grew wet and, finally, as luck would have it, the plastic wheels of the suitcase slipped down into a small crack in the ground as Jack ran. The suitcase stopped, but Jack didn't, and it was because of this that his momentum tore the extendable handle off the suitcase completely.

Lightning flashed and Jack roared in frustration. He attempted to stop, but his feet slipped and he fell backwards, slamming his shoulder hard into the ground, sending waves of pain up and down his right side. He quickly got up, rubbing his aching shoulder, and threw the handle as far as he could back up the canyon. Grabbing his suitcase, he hefted it up into his arms, ignoring the pain in his shoulder, and began moving forward through the rain.

He ran as fast as he could through the canyon and, within five minutes, found himself out of it and onto a dirt road that had since turned to mud. The rain continued to pour around him, making it difficult to see where he was going, so he continued to run along the path. The mud beneath his feet became wood for only a second, but, in his haste, he didn't pay any attention to it. In the distance, he saw a large building—possibly an inn—and dashed towards it.

As he got closer, he began to be able to make out details. It was a two-story wooden building set on an incline. It had a balcony on the second floor that hung over the front of the building, creating an awning under which the front door had been placed. Jack ran under it, nearly colliding with a wooden pillar supporting the balcony. Finally, under the shade of the balcony, he stopped, set his suitcase down, and breathed heavily. Water dripped off of him, creating a muddy puddle beneath his feet.

He looked at the door. Small, yellow plates of glass covered the upper half of the door, but did not allow Jack to see what was inside. He took a deep breath and, deciding that inside anywhere was better than huddling under a balcony in the middle of a thunderstorm, pushed the door open. A bell rang as the door swung open, and Jack grabbed his suitcase, hauling it inside. The bell rang again as the door closed behind him.

The inside of the building was odd and oriental. It smelled lightly of incense, as well as the rain outside. The walls were made of wooden boards while bamboo bordered the ceiling. All around the room were strange artifacts and items that didn't seem to fit the air of the place. Small foreign looking trees were places at two corners in the room while strange tribal statues were places at the others. A colorful rug with a design of a dragon on it was in the middle of the floor, and the far wall was covered in pictures of a family, presumably the family that owned the _Inner Inn_, which Jack realized was this building's name, according to a bamboo sign above the counter on the back wall.

Behind the counter was a tall, chubby man with a mess of black hair and beady black eyes. He had a red and yellow fez on the top of his head and a red vest over a white t-shirt. The man's eyes widened when Jack entered and he quickly left the counter, revealing orange shorts and sandals.

"Hello, hello!" he said quickly and hurried over to Jack, taking Jack's hand in both of his and shaking it enthusiastically. "Welcome to the Inner Inn! Can I prepare you a room, possibly a meal? How long will you be staying with us?"

"No, no, I'm just—" Jack stammered.

"Oh, I'm so impolite!" the man exclaimed, silencing Jack. "I am Tim and am the owner of this inn. Let me introduce my wife and son!"

"No, you don't—"

"_Ruby_! _Rock_!"

A curtain on the right wall was pushed aside, and another equally chubby woman stepped out, smiling. She too had black hair and beady eyes and wore a colorful kimono. She smiled at Jack and bowed. A bit surprised, Jack stammered, but was, again, prevented from speaking by a loud racket from the stairs leading up at the right corner of the room. A boy that looked about Jack's age ran down the stairs, looking annoyed. The racket wasn't from him, though, but from a stereo that must have been in his room, which continued to play loudly. The boy, Jack noted, looked absolutely nothing like either of his parents. Instead of black, his hair was bleached blond, and his eyes were wide and blue. When he saw Jack, he grinned.

"Yo!" he said. "You new here?"

When it seemed to him there would be no new distractions, Jack finally found his voice once more. "Uhm, yes, I'm here to take over that empty farm…"

"Oh, then you should know that we own the only real _restaurant_ in the Valley," Tim said, grinning at the prospect of a new customer. "My family has been all _over_ the world and my wife has picked up recipes from every place we've been to. She is the best cook on the entire island!"

"Tim…" Ruby said softly, blushing. She looked at Jack. "I'm Ruby and this is my son, Rock."

Jack smiled at her and nodded to Rock. "I'm Jack Todd," he said, and, once again, Ruby bowed. This time, however, Jack bowed a bit awkwardly in return.

"Where did you come from?" Rock asked.

"Well, I lived in the city before and—"

"If you've come from the city, you must be famished!" Tim said, which, Jack had to admit, was true. "Ruby, why don't you go prepare him another place at the table?" Ruby nodded, smiled at Jack, and hurried back past the curtain, into the kitchen. Tim looked at Jack and said, "It's on the house today."

"No, you don't need to—"

"Nonsense!" Tim exclaimed, grinning even wider. "We were about to sit down for dinner anyway, and Ruby _always_ makes too much!"

"That's right, she does," Rock said, smirking at his father. "I mean, look at this guy!" To express his point, he poked Tim's belly playfully. Tim glared at Rock.

"Go turn off that music and wash up for dinner," he said in a stern fashion.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm going." He looked at Jack and grinned briefly before hurrying back upstairs. Jack looked back at Tim and spoke quickly before the other man could start talking again.

"If you don't mind, could you tell me where the farm is? I didn't really have much of a chance to look around, and it would save me a lot of trouble," he said.

"Are you _blind_?" said a voice different from any of the others in the inn. Jack frowned deeply and looked around for the source of the voice. His eyes finally settled on the open window on the left side of the room. At first his eyes has passed over it without thinking, but he now saw that the window was not all that was there. A woman was sitting on the windowsill, her feet planted firmly on the sill, legs crossed and bent, with her arms behind her head. A backpack was used as a pillow for her back. Her eyes were closed, but her lips were curled into a sardonic smile.

Her eyes opened and she looked back at Jack. She had light blue eyes and a face that could have been pretty had it not been twisted into a malicious smirk. Her hair was dark red and was cut short so it did stopped just above her chin and looked unkempt. The woman was wearing a yellow t-shirt with a plaid button-up shirt over it and khaki shorts that reached her knees, finally ending in a pair of white tennis shoes.

"Mute too?" she asked, her smirk growing.

"Don't be so harsh, Nami," Tim said laughing softly. "You've seen the weather out there—it's brutal." Jack frowned deeply and looked back at Tim, unsure of what to say. "This is Nami—she's the inn's only customer."

"Goddess, you could just say that I live here," Nami added, but her eyes knitted into a scowl.

"Nami, this is—"

Nami shrugged and started walking towards the steps. "I heard," she said coldly before walking calmly up the stairs. In her wake, she left a blushing Tim and a flabbergasted Jack.

"I… am sorry about that," Tim said softly to Jack. "She's not very nice to strangers."

"I could tell," Jack said as his confusion gave way to insult.

"She's actually pretty nice once you get to know her—she just doesn't have very good people skills."

Jack opened his mouth to say something particularly harsh towards Nami, but Ruby's voice from the kitchen silenced him. "Dinner's ready! Tim, call Rock and—"

"No need!" Rock said, pounding down the stairs, and hurrying through the curtain. Tim looked at Jack, smiled, and walked into the kitchen, motioning for Jack to follow. Once Jack reached the kitchen, he found himself in a room full of wonderful smells that he had been too distracted earlier to smell. Meat sizzled softly on skillets, the smell of freshly baked breads wafted through the air, and a stew was simmering on a stovetop. At once, Jack's stomach growled and he looked around, seeing Rock and Tim already sitting on their knees on pillows around a short, but long table off to the side of the kitchen. Around the table were ten pillows to sit on, but Jack couldn't imagine all of the pillows being filled with such a small inn.

"Sit down, dear," Ruby said, smiling. Not needing to be told twice, Jack sat on a pillow and grinned as Ruby set a plate full of delicious looking food before him. "Is Nami not joining us tonight, Tim?"

"Of course not," Tim said, grinning. "We have a guest!"

"I'll make sure to save a plate for her, then."

As soon as she sat down, the three occupants of the inn bowed their heads and Jack politely did the same. Tim said a soft prayer of thanks, and, as soon as he had finished, started eating ravenously. Rock followed suit while Ruby ate calmly and tenderly. Jack, suppressing the urge to imitate Rock and Tim, forced himself to retain his manners and eat thoughtfully. Even after a single bite, he understood _exactly_ why Tim had said Ruby was the best cook on the island.

* * *

With a full stomach and a smile on his face, Jack left the Inner Inn, feeling more content than he had since the funeral. He had just arrived in the village and had already met three—no, four—of its occupants. Jack couldn't forget about the cold Nami. Absently, he looked back at the Inn's second floor, wondering which of the two balcony doors belonged to Nami. Each of the doors had opaque panes of glass, making it impossible to see through.

Jack sighed and shook his head before looking around at the village for the first time since entering it. The sight of it threatened to take his breath away. The storm had cleared away, leaving a brilliant blue sky above with spotted puffy clouds and a blinding sun that beat down on the village, already drying some spots on the ground. Jack looked around in awe—if the city were black, this was white in its purest form. Gone were skyscrapers and cars, giving way to small, wooden and brick buildings and dirt footpaths between them. Gone was level ground, giving way to a gentle incline that the entire village was set upon.

In front of him and slightly to the right was a small, but steep hill leading up onto a small plateau, where Jack's destination was. However, Jack's attention was fully divided at the moment. To his left, across the dirt path against the plateau's grassy surface were two houses, one single story and the other double. On the Inn's side of the path and to Jack's left was a small, square building. A hanging sign in the front of it said "Blue Bar". Beyond the bar, further down the hill, was a small hut, raised a story off the ground by three wooden poles, giving Jack the impression of a tree house.

To Jack's right was, to his alarm, a river a very simple wooden bridge lacking handrails crossing it. The thought occurred to him that he had crossed that bridge earlier and a chill ran down his spine. Forcing that thought from his mind, he focused on a path that led up the hill on his side of the river, beside the plateau. Instead of dirt, it was a wooden path that disappeared behind the plateau. Jack could see that, on the other side of the river, there was another path similar to this, except for the fact that it was also dirt and it ran alongside a very large, rocky, and steep hill. From Jack's position, though, he could not see where that path led either. However, he _could_ see with a tad bit of anxiety another farm on the other side of the river. A row of greenhouses had been positioned at the back and many rows of unripe plants were growing in the farm's fields. Two houses had been placed at the front, and a wooden fence enclosed the entire farm in.

Already, he could see a large, overweight woman with an enormous smile on his lips out surveying her crops, followed closely by a smaller, much more petite girl. Jack frowned; was he to compete with this farm? He greatly hoped that his farm wouldn't need to compete with such a great farm as that.

Hearing a door open, Jack looked to his left and found that a man in running clothes was exiting the two-story house, followed by a young boy that looked to be no older than six. Jack figured that a newcomer would be noticed immediately in such a small village and, not really desiring to have the entire village gathered around, asking questions, he hurried to the hill leading up the plateau and to his new home.

If he was worried about the larger farm before, the sight of his farm forced him into a panic. His heart sunk to the soles of his feet—if there was to be competition with the other farm, his farming career was over before it had even started.

The farm was composed within a large rectangle of enclosed space, fenced in by two sides of trees and the other two, the one behind Jack and the one to his right, by the edges of the plateau. It consisted of seven buildings and four fields, one of which was covered in long, green grass that swayed in the light breeze. Against the back side of the plateau, and directly to Jack's left was a small log cabin complete with a very dirty welcome mat placed out in front of it and muddy work boots by the door.

Beyond that was a silo of sorts and even further than that was another, slightly smaller log cabin. This cabin was against the far left edge of the farm and it, instead of the first cabin, looked quite uninhabited. Jack had a sinking feeling that he had just seen where he would be living. Beside this cabin, there was a very small plot of land for farming and, beside the field, was another small, white building with a blue roof. There was another field to the right of this and it was followed by even yet another building, although this one was very small and looked run down.

Against the far side of the farm was yet another field, this one larger than the other two fields combined. The right side of the farm had nothing of important on it with the exception of a second exit. However, the middle of the farm was where the grass field had been placed. The field was fenced in on three and one half sides by a wooden fence while, on the side closest to Jack, a barn completed the field's perimeter. Attached to the right side of this barn was another silo while on the left was a small shed that Jack supposed was a tool shed from the looks of it.

Jack sighed softly and placed his bag on the ground. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath of the clean air that permeated this place. As stressed as he was, he felt invigorated by it and opened his eyes. First things first—he needed to get situated and find the man, Takakura, that he talked to at his father's funeral.

The door to the nearest cabin opened with a creak, and Jack started. A tall man with brown, leathery skin and protruding eyebrows stepped out of the house in his socks. He put on the boots, stood up to his full height, and looked around. His eyes fell on Jack and he seemed to think about Jack's presence for a moment before walking over.

"Hey…" he said in a slow, almost tired way. "Glad to see you made it."

"I ended up getting shelter in the inn before coming over here," Jack said, smiling a bit. He pushed his hand forward and Takakura took it in his own firm grip. "So this is the farm?" Jack said after Takakura released his hand.

"Yeah… it's not much yet, but we can work with it."

"Right."

"Would you like a tour?"

Jack looked around the farm once more before nodding absently. Without another word, Takakura headed towards the silo next to his house and went inside. Jack quickly followed and found the inside to be quite cool compared to outside. It had a table in the middle of the room with charts and prices for various tools and equipment on top, as well as what looks like a cookie jar off to one side that was labeled "earnings". Behind this was a large freezer that Jack supposed his crops were to be kept after ripening.

"This is the Food Storage room," Takakura said. "Just put your food and stuff in that freezer…" He knitted his eyebrows together and nodded to himself, as if checking off some invisible list of things to tell Jack. "Also, if you ever need anything from town, just mark it down in the ledger on the table," He pointed to the table and a notebook beside the charts. "And I'll pick it up the next day for you. Just mark whatever you're selling there too—I'll take it all up to Mineral Town."

"Right," Jack said softly, eyeing the jar warily. If that was where Takakura was planning on putting the money he earned from selling his crops…

"Come on," Takakura said, lumbering out, his shoulders hunched. Jack followed quickly and saw Takakura walk into the barn. Moments later, he heard the distinct sound of a cow mooing and his eyes widened. He hurried into the barn and gasped when he saw a very large cow standing at a feed stall. Takakura standing beside the cow.

"I took the liberty of getting you a cow…" he said, patting the cow's head. "They're a pretty good source of money and should help you out. Barley said that she just gave birth, so she should keep giving milk for the rest of the year."

"Thanks," Jack said, breathlessly. He walked to the cow slowly and reached out tentatively, patting its nose. It mooed again and Jack felt something soft and wet touch his hand. The cow was _licking_ him! Jack grinned and looked up at Takakura. The older man was looking down at him with a faint smile on his lips.

"Give her a name."

Jack frowned deeply and looked at the cow once more. Finally, after a moment of thinking, he nodded. "Schala," he said, grinning.

"Schala?"

Jack nodded and smiled at him. "Childhood friend," he explained. "She helped me through a load of problems when I was younger and, since this cow will be helping me get this farm underway, it only seemed fair."

Takakura nodded. "Then she is now named Schala." He walked over to a large chalk board on one side of the barn. The board was decorated by a floor design of the barn and had specific places for feed stalls marked on it. Takakura wrote "Schala" in front of one of the feed stalls and nodded to him. Turning back to Jack, he pointed at a small, metal door off to one side of the barn.

"That's where you can get hay for the animals," he said before pointing to a large bin off to another side. "And that's where the waste goes. We'll use it as fertilizer for the grass and for crops."

Jack nodded slowly and took a deep breath. He just realized how foul the barn smelled and cringed. Takakura walked through another door on the wall and Jack followed him, finding a small tool shed. Various tools and items were hanging on a wall and on the opposite wall was a large shelf. On this shelf were a few bags of seeds as well as smaller tools like a hammer and nails.

"You should have everything you need for now. Just tell me if you need anything else," he said. Jack nodded slowly.

"Takakura, I'm not really—"

"Call me Tak," Takakura said. "It's easier."

Jack nodded slowly. "Tak… I really don't know a lot about farming at the moment. Will you be teaching me…?"

"Actually, I've been talking to Vesta about this for a while—she's the owner of that big farm out there. She's agreed to send over one of her helpers to get you started—she should be coming by tomorrow, actually."

"Okay…" Jack said, frowning. "About that farm, Tak, we aren't going to have to compete against it, will we?"

"Not at all. Vesta and I came to an agreement. Because she has such a large farm, she's been selling to both Mineral Town and the mainland. However, the city's been trying to buy more from her, which hasn't been possible until now."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you'll be selling your crops here and to Mineral Town while Vesta sends hers to the mainland. It benefits everyone in the end," Takakura said, smiling. Jack nodded and a weight lifted off his chest—that made life so much easier for him.

"The big farm up in Mineral Town is out of operation right now, so Mineral Town is relying heavily on Vesta, so we're really going to have to step it up quickly to help her out."

And the stress was back.

"The entire _town_ is going to depend on me?"

"Not yet, no. Vesta will continue selling to them for a while—until we start getting good crops."

"Good," Jack said relaxing a bit more.

"And another thing—Vesta's farm has very high quality crops and, if we want top gold for ours, we'll need to try to imitate hers. Her helper should explain everything tomorrow though, so I am not too worried."

"Okay…"

"Well… come on, let's keep going," Takakura said before walking outside again. Jack hurried after him. "That's your house," Takakura said, pointing at the house that Jack had originally suspected to be his own. "And that's where I live." He pointed at the other cabin.

"Right," Jack said, frowning slightly; his cabin truly _was_ tiny. It was built entirely out of logs, as if it was pulled directly from a past long ago, and had a pointed, shingled roof. Out of the back of the house extended a black, metal chimney that was probably part of an old wood stove. Jack suppressed the anxiety that was growing in the pit of his stomach.

"Over here is the chicken coop," Takakura said, oblivious to Jack's worries. He had already begun walking to the small, white building. However, this time, he didn't go in, but continued to walk along the path beside the fence encompassing the field of grass. He stopped at the run-down shack. Jack hurried after him.

"Well… I'm actually not sure what this is," he said, looking over at Jack with a slight frown. "It's been locked from the inside and I don't have the key."

Jack looked at the shack with interest. It truly was nothing more than a wooden shack with no windows and a wooden roof. The wood seemed to be rotting in some places and it looked as if a mere breeze would blow it over. However, Jack's curiosity was peaked while looking at it—what could be in it?

"If you'd like, you and I can try to get in it later on. But let's not worry about that now." Jack nodded at Takakura's words and looked to his right, towards the largest field on his farm. He had a feeling that it was that field in which he'd be doing the majority of his farming.

"I know that it's small compared to those big farms on the mainland, but it's good for a small village like this. Your father was very excited about this… and I hope that we can do what he wanted so much to do himself."

Jack looked up at the sky and sighed heavily.

* * *

Jack placed the last of his clothes neatly into the small dresser in his house and sighed, looking around. At the very least, the _outside_ of the house had a certain charming appeal to it. However, inside, the house had been covered with a thin layer of dust and cobwebs. It took Jack the whole of two hours to manage to clean up the house and, even then, it didn't look much better.

The house had three windows, one on either of the sides and one on the left side of the front wall. The back wall, however, was bare of windows, but had a very old television pushed against it, as well as an old, rusty wood stove. Next to the stove was a small rack for spices and, on the other side, was an equally small pantry that looked about ready to collapse.

Other than this, all that remained in the house was a small bed in the far left corner and a nightstand next to it. It struck Jack as strange that every bit of furniture had been placed against the back wall, but it didn't take him long to realize that, in doing so, it left open space in the middle of the room. This was fine by him; he would accept any extra space he got in such a small cabin.

Jack sighed and plopped down on his bed, looking up at the ceiling. "What am I getting myself into?" he asked the house. When the ceiling didn't reply, he sighed again, but frowned a moment later. He distinctively heard a scratching noise and, standing up from his bed, he realized that the noise originated from his door. He walked across the room and swung the door open to investigate the noise and found a little dog, barely older than a puppy, in front of his door.

The dog was caked in mud and grime, but it seemed not to notice. Instead, it rushed inside the house, completely ignoring Jack, and hopped onto his bed, soiling the sheets without a second thought.

"No!" Jack cried, rushing to his bed and trying to shoo the dog away. "Get off—you're getting mud everywhere, you stupid dog!" However, the dog simply barked and wagged his tail, sending bits of mud in all directions. Jack grabbed at it, but his fingers slipped on its slippery coat and he fell onto the bed. When he pushed himself up, there was a large mud spot on his shirt. The dog barked excitedly again.

"Out! Get out!" Jack bellowed, but the dog, instead of obeying him, hopped off his bed and onto the oval-shaped rug on the floor, rolling over and leaving a trail of mud in his wake. "Stop it!" Jack made another grab for him and, this time, succeeded in getting his hands around him. He picked him up, holding on tightly and hurried to his door roughly shoving the dog outside. The dog turned around, but Jack shut the door before it could get into his house.

He straightened and groaned loudly, clapping a hand to his forehead. Mud covered his bed, trailed on the floor, and caked the rug, creating a brand new mess for him to clean up. Jack sat down on a unsoiled part of his bed and lied down, resting his arm on his stomach. It only took a moment for him to realize that his shirt was wet, and he raised his head to look at his shirt. Below the mud was a round spot of yellow. Jack groaned once more and let his head hit his mattress once more.

"What in the world have I gotten myself into…?"


	3. Reap What You Sow

To my readers—the few and the proud: It took a long time, I know, and I won't bother you with pointless excuses. I do apologize, though. I'm a lazy bum and wrote nearly all of this in the last two or three days, showing you just how fast I _could_ have gotten this chapter underway if I just put my mind to it. To my own credit, though, I _have _been in a bit of a rut! It's been a while since I really wrote a Harvest Moon story and, believe it or not, it's difficult to go from two stories that have action in every chapter to Harvest Moon, which relies much more heavily on description, emotions, and character development.

Enough of my whining. I don't own Harvest Moon—any of the games—or the characters that appear in them. And, on a happier tone (I think), I have to do this all the more because I turned eighteen and could be prosecuted by law! WHOO!

**Chapter Two: Reap What You Sow**

A woman about seventeen years old hurried out of her large, barn-like house and took a deep breath, filling her lungs with the clean air of Mineral Town. Chickens clucked from within the large coop on one side of the Poultry Farm, as the chicken ranch had been so aptly named. She hurried to the coop and slid open the small door on its side, releasing the chickens and roosters into the pen beside the coop. They hurried out and the girl grabbed a handful of corn out of a small bag hanging on the pen's fence. She threw it into the pen and did so a few more times before she was satisfied.

"I'll be back soon," she said, smiling brightly at them. She looked at one chicken in particular, a young hen that had not yet started laying eggs. "Lay me an egg, Pon!" Pon, however, merely pecked at the ground, not recognizing her own name, nor caring that the girl that had raised her from an egg was even speaking.

The girl, dressed in a bright red dress, had bright pink hair and red eyes that were never without a youthful shine. She hurried out of the poultry farm onto the road that had been nicknamed Farm Lane for the three farms, Louis' farm, the Poultry Farm, and Yodel Farm, that it connected. She turned right and then right again as she reached the edge of her own farm, turning onto a path between it and Yodel Farm.

"Hi, Popuri!" said a little girl with black hair from within Yodel Farm.

"Good morning, May! How is she?" Popuri said, motioning at the small calf that May was lovingly brushing.

"She's good! Grandpa says I can keep her!"

"Great!"

"Where are you going?" May asked, standing up and hurrying over to the fence.

"To give an offering to the Goddess," Popuri said, holding up a basket that held three white eggs in it. May frowned just slightly, and Popuri reacted with a larger smile. "You'll understand when you're older!"

"That's what Grandpa always tells me," May said, sighing.

"Well, you will!" Popuri replied, patting May on the head. After a moment's goodbye, Popuri continued down the dirt path, across the bridge, into the wood at the base of Mother's Hill. For a moment, she stopped walking and closed her eyes, basking in the morning sunlight and allowing the sounds of the birds singing happily, the soft breeze rustling the leaves of the trees, and the grunting of a man chopping up some fire wood to fill her mind.

She looked over at the man and grinned. "Hi, Gotz!"

Gotz turned and smiled at her, waving. He was a very large man with thick brown hair and an equally thick and brown beard that covered most of his face. He was the town's local carpenter and had built a great deal of the buildings and houses in the town—including a recent addition to her own chicken coop. She waved back and continued on her way, soon coming to a fork in the path. She took the right path and walked a short distance until she reached some wooden steps that had been placed in the side of a sharply inclining hill.

The moment she reached the top of the stairs, she grinned at the soft mist that lightly touched her face. The mist originated from a waterfall towards the right side of the hill, falling from a higher portion of Mother's Hill into a small pool that flowed out into the stream that flowed beside Farm Lane and eventually into the ocean. To her left was an area enclosed by a tall, wooden privacy fence. The reason for this was the hot spring inside in which people could relax freely and, quite often, nakedly.

Popuri smiled and decided to get a quick dip in the spring before heading home. But first, however, she hurried over to the waterfall and peered into its depths. The water was unnaturally clean, letting her see to the bottom of the pool, despite the rough waters that the waterfall caused. The sun reflected off the perfectly clean rocks at the bottom and Popuri smiled. Just like every day, any offerings that had been made the day before were gone without a trace.

A warmth filled her heart and she felt at ease with the world. "Good morning, Harvest Goddess," she said softly. She closed her eyes and she relished the feel of the cool mist on her face. It was like the Goddess herself was there, bringing chilly relief from the morning chores. Yes, all was right in the world. She was happy.

* * *

Jack groaned slightly in his sleep and twisted in his bed for the hundredth time since the night before. Sheets gone, replaced by a few towels, and not a blanket or pillow to speak of, he wasn't so sure that his bed was much more comfortable than the grass outside. At least the outside would have offered a view, not to mention the smell of dog urine that had managed to sink into the bed before he could get the sheets off.

Sunlight streamed in through his window, lighting up his face and making it nearly impossible for him to fall back asleep. He rolled onto his side, but the lack of a pillow made that uncomfortable. Trying his stomach, that only revealed that the smell of urine was only stronger upon moving his nose closer to the bed.

Someone knocked on his front door and he sighed, giving up all hope in getting back to sleep. Jack rolled out of bed and walked to the front door, blinking furiously in the blinding sunlight. Takakura, dressed in the same shirt and jeans he was wearing the day before, was standing in front of him.

"You might want to get dressed…" he said. "That person from the farm's here."

Jack nodded slowly and shut the door. He pressed a hand to his forehead and yawned. "Goddess, it's early," he said before crossing over to his suitcase.

* * *

Jack shivered slightly when he walked outside and took a deep breath, exhaling steam. As far as he was concerned, it was just too early. He shielded his eyes from the sunlight and sighed—this would take some getting used to.

"Jack," said Takakura and Jack looked around, spotting him next to the cattle barn. Jack walked in his direction, but slowed when he saw who was apparently the farm attendant that had been sent to help him. A young girl that couldn't have been any older than Jack stood next to Takakura, her hands behind her back and a small smile on her lips. She was wearing a modest, full-length green dress and had soft gray eyes and brown hair pulled back under an orange bandana.

"This is Celia—the one Vesta sent to help you," Takakura said, indicating the girl with a nod.

"I'm Jack Todd. I guess I'm the owner of this place now," Jack said, holding out his hand. Celia smiled warmly at him, revealing rows of perfect, white teeth, and shook his hand. Her hands were callous and rough—just as Jack was sure his hands would be soon enough.

"Celia Bower," she said, giving his hand a firm shake. "I'm going to show you what being a farmer means."

"Sounds good to me." Jack released her hand and stretched. "Does being a farmer always entail getting up so early, though?" Celia laughed happily and picked up a small, red bag from the ground.

"I brought you some tomato seeds—they're great beginning plants. They grow fast and you can get multiple tomatoes from one plant. I'll show you how to till the ground right, plant them, water them, fertilize, and raise them!" A strange twinkle had appeared in Celia's eyes and her grin had only widened. "If you're lucky and you pay attention, maybe you can even grow some _S_ ranking tomatoes, like us."

"_S_ ranking?"

"Yes, all crops have certain ranks and classes depending on how large and fresh they are. _S_ is the highest, but the average is a _B_. Some get even lower ranks. If you get an _F_, it usually means that you tried to harvest it the day after you planted it. But if you just grow a plant without any extra care like fertilizer and careful spacing, you'll probably have a _B_ or _C_ rank crop on your hands. Anything lower than that and you probably won't be able to sell it."

Jack blinked and frowned slightly. "Who decides on the plant's ranking?"

"Well, the Flowerbud Farmer's Bureau set apart some guidelines as to what makes a good crop and the ranking system is based off their guidelines!"

"Jack," Takakura said, drawing his attention away from Celia. "I need to go into town today and pick up some things I ordered."

"Right…"

"I'll be back in the evening. Thanks for coming, Celia…"

"You're welcome," Celia said, smiling brightly at him. Takakura smiled back and trudged off the farm, leaving Celia and Jack alone. Jack yawned and covered his mouth and she smiled at him. "Tired?"

"And cold, but otherwise okay." Jack attempted a thumbs' up, but it was interrupted by another yawn.

"Need coffee?"

"I hate the stuff."

"You might want to develop a taste for it," Celia said, bending down and inspecting a flower sticking up out of the ground. She smiled and picked it, sticking it into her hair. She stood up and smiled at him. "It helps—especially on those dreary overcast days."

Jack frowned—he had a feeling that she just might be right. "I'll just eat a lot of sweets."

Celia looked at him and shook her head. "Do that and you'll burn yourself out after two days. Farm work isn't easy—every day you need to pull out weeds, make sure everything's watered well, make sure animals and bugs aren't doing away with the plants, and harvest when the time comes."

"That really doesn't seem all that hard," Jack commented thoughtfully.

"To someone growing a small little garden, maybe not! But you're going to have to grow a _lot_ of veggies to be able to make any money. You'll probably spend hours a day tending to your crops. That's not even including your animals."

Jack's spirits fell—he had underestimated the difficulty of the work. Running his hands through his hair, he forced a smile. "Well, what have you got for me in your lesson plan today?"

"The basics," she said, not skipping a beat. "Come on, I'll show you the tools you'll need!" With that, she led him into the shed, proceeding to show him the various tools he'd use to plant, water, prune, and otherwise care for his crops-to-be.

For Jack, the next few hours moved along quickly, his mind whirling with all the information Celia was giving him. Tips on rotating crops, the best ways to fertilize, the most ideal places to plant in order to optimize the time in the sun and rain, and crop patterns to efficiently use the resources—these and much more were thrown around carelessly, leaving Jack to scramble to retain it all.

Finally, the blessed moment arrived when, after they were both thoroughly covered with dirt and perspiration, Celia's voice hoarse, and Jack's brain sore, she took a deep breath and smiled, placing down the watering can. "I think we can probably take a break now."

_Yes, break_, Jack thought. _Goddess, I can smell Ruby's cooking…_

"How about I treat you to lunch?" Jack said immediately. "I mean, it's the least I can do—you're helping me a lot."

Celia's dirt-splotched cheeks turned a bit pink, but she nodded, smiling and revealing her teeth. Jack grinned back and swept an arm dramatically towards the entrance to his farm. "After you." Celia gave a bit of a curtsy and walked past him. When they reached the inn, Jack hurried ahead and opened the door for her, bowing like a valet as she passed. Celia giggled softly and Jack smiled, rising and following her into the inn's lobby.

"I love eating here," Celia said, looking around.

"I'm beginning to," he said, grinning at the smell, which had amazing grown only more pleasing to the senses. He could almost _taste_ it. It tasted like pork chops sizzling over a stove, melted cheese on top, some kind of vegetable stew, and a delicious cake to finish it off. His mouth watered and, unable to resist any more, walked past the curtain separating the lobby from the kitchen. Celia followed right after him.

"Jack, Celia, welcome! Come, come, sit!" Tim said happily, waving them over. "Rock, scoot over. Nami, could you move over a little bit to make room?"

Jack blinked—when he had entered, he had not only noticed Nami sitting there, but he also had noticed that she was talking more or less animatedly with Ruby and smiling while doing so. _So the serpent does loosen its coils from time to time_, Jack thought with a wry smile. However, when she noticed Jack, her expression went cold and she stopped speaking, moving obediently when Tim asked her to.

Giving Nami a curt nod, he sat down across from her, beside Rock. Celia ended up sitting next to Nami and gave her a smile, which Nami pretended not to see. Immediately, Ruby was up again, piling the food onto two more dishes. She set the plates before Jack and Celia and poured them some tea. Finally, she sat back down again, smiling brightly at the both of them, and continued with her meal.

Jack felt a pang of guilt—here he was, intruding on their lunch, but she was so gracious as to treat him like an honored guest. Was it like this everywhere in the village? Or was this Inner Inn unique like this? Whatever it was, he knew that it warmed his heart. It was service that one did not see in the city—service that was rare anywhere in the world nowadays. Jack made a mental note to do something nice for her later on.

"Did you bring Celia here on a date, Jack?" Tim asked slyly, bringing Jack from his thoughts. For a moment, it didn't register in his head what Tim had said, but within a moment's time he had gone very red.

"No, no, it's not that!" Jack said sharply, fumbling with his words. "She's been helping me get the farm started, so I decided to treat her to lunch!"

"Sounds like a date to me," Rock said, nudging Jack. Jack coughed and stared down at his plate, feeling stupid for being so embarrassed by this. He was an adult, for Goddess' sake! Yet a glance up at Celia revealed that she was very red just as well, which made him feel a bit better, he supposed.

"Just a friendly lunch between fellow farmers," he said with an air of finality in his voice. Neither Tim nor Rock decided to fight this, but went on eating. Nami ended up being the first to finish and she looked at Ruby.

"It was very good, Ruby. Thank you again."

Ruby smiled at her and Nami gave her a half-smile back before standing up, taking her plate, and placing it in the sink. She washed and rinsed it off clean before walking out of the kitchen. Jack's brows furrowed slightly. He knew he was probably being stupid, but there was something about that girl that didn't add up.

_Or perhaps_, he thought, _she just doesn't like you._ Which Jack had to agree wouldn't be too hard to believe considering the way she treated him. He took a breath and looked at Celia, smiling. He released Nami from his thoughts and focused on more important matters. For example, his farm and the work that needed to be done to get it running. And, as much as he tried to force the thought back, the fact that a girl was personally helping him do so.

Looking at her, Jack would say that she wasn't absolutely gorgeous—she was somewhat homely, but cute. She had a beautiful smile and twinkling, possibly mischievous eyes. The dirt on her cheeks added to the effect of cuteness, but Jack wondered what she'd look like without it—the green dress shed for something more elegant, the bandana forgotten, her hair let down and clean, her face with a light bit of make-up on it. He would bet that she'd be quite pretty—he'd be willing to bet anything on it.

And, indeed, while he tried to ignore it, below her face, her form was not bad. She was very modest, which was possibly another thing that interested Jack, having come from the city in which women flaunted what they had, not covering it up as Celia did. But the fact remained that, while she did not show it in an immodest way, she had a pretty frame. Jack blushed—indeed, he _was_ being stupid.

After this, he sped up his pace in eating and finished quickly enough. He looked at Tim curiously. "How much do I owe you?"

"Don't worry about—the food was already made, anyway!"

This was the second time Jack had received a free meal from this man.

"Tim, I can't just keep taking meals from you…"

"You're just lucky—you keep arriving when we sit down for our meals. It's not that I'm giving you a meal; it's just that you have dumb luck!" Tim laughed happily and Jack released a sigh. He could already see that he would not convince Tim otherwise, and gave up on trying. In stead, he looked at Ruby.

"The meal was amazing. I don't think I've ever tasted such good pork chops," he said, grinning at her. Ruby blushed a tad and bowed her head.

"Thank you. It is because of a special blend of spices that my family is known for. I use them in some kind of way in nearly all of my meals."

Jack raised his eyebrows. "In that case, I guess I'll have to come back here more often."

Ruby smiled at him. "It will be a pleasure to have you dine with us."

"Uh-huh. Dad, why don't you ever invite Muffy or Lumina to eat with us? No offense, Jack, but, honestly, those are the two local hotties," Rock said with a grin. Jack was a bit taken aback by this statement considering not only were both his parents there, but so was Celia. "As far as who I want to sit beside and across from me while I eat…" He trailed off, looking a tad bit wistful.

Tim sighed. "Rock, just finish your meal."

Jack, feeling that this time was as good as any, looked at Celia. "Are you about ready to head back? I need to check up on Schala anyway."

Celia smiled and nodded, standing. "It was very good, Ruby. Thank you." She started to take her dish back, but Ruby was up a second later, taking both Jack and Celia's dishes from them. She took them to the sink and washed them, leaving Celia and Jack standing there. Again, Jack felt a twinge of guilt—stronger now—and fortified his decision to do something nice for Ruby some day. _And Tim too_, he reminded himself.

After bidding the three goodbye, he walked out beside Celia and headed back towards the farm. "Rock really doesn't take after his parents, does he?" Jack said, more as a fact than a question, when he knew he was out of earshot of the inn. Celia smiled slightly.

"No, I don't think he does." Yet her voice was… _Sad_, Jack told himself. And why not? In a way, Rock insulted her to her face. Jack felt anger rise within his gut, but quelled it, replacing it with another feeling entirely.

"He's pretty blind, if you ask me. I don't know who Muffy or Lumina is, but for him to claim that they're the only pretty ones around here…" His voice faded and his face turned very red, as did Celia's. Neither of them said anything else until after Jack had finished watering his newly planted seeds.

"I guess I'd better head back to the plantation," Celia said finally and Jack's heart sank a bit. He enjoyed her presence.

"Will you be coming back around to help?"

"Of course! I'll be back every day until you gain enough experience to handle it all on your own."

His heart rose again and Jack smiled. "In that case, I'll see you tomorrow morning—bright and early, right?"

"Yep." Celia smiled at him and looked around for a moment. "You know, you should get a few more animals. Maybe a rooster—they always seem to crow around six. On some clear mornings, you can actually faintly hear the roosters in Mineral Town crowing. I like being woken up by those much more than boring old clocks."

_First priority is getting a rooster._ "Well, I'll see what I can do about that, then," Jack said, nodding. After a moment of quietness, Jack held out his hand and Celia placed hers in it. "Thank you for your help and I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yes, you will. Thank you for lunch." They shook hands and parted, Celia walking out of the farm and Jack standing in the same place, watching her.

Yes, with a shower and a nice dress, she'd be very pretty indeed. He'd bet on it.

It was around three o'clock that Jack left his farm again, this time with plans to explore his new home a bit more. Partially out of not wanting to cross the bridge and partially out of shyness, Jack turned right upon exiting his farm and walked along the path there, past a few small houses. He stopped when he saw the Blue Bar and licked his lips. He wasn't quite twenty-one yet, but surely they wouldn't _just_ have alcohol. Nodding to himself, he walked into the bar.

He was greeted with an empty room. It was a small bar, a single counter in the center of the room with eight stools on one side while the other side (while admittedly unmanned at the moment) was where the bartender would take the orders. There were a couple wine racks behind the counter, as well as a few small refrigeration units and other assorted shelves. Directly to Jack's right was a plain-looking door, which Jack supposed either led back into a supply closet or the owner's room. In front of him, on the back wall, was a single, flowery lamp, which didn't make much sense considering there was also a hanging lamp above the bar.

_Ambiance,_ Jack thought with a smirk. _It's all about the atmosphere._

When he had entered the bar, a bell above the door had rung and, apparently, someone in the back room had heard. The door swung open and a girl—quite possibly the exact opposite of Celia in every aspect—stepped out. She had long, wavy blonde hair that curled at the bottom, kept out of her face by a blue headband, revealing very pretty green eyes, and a perfect complexion, void of any blemishes that he could see. She had a body that would leave many women jealous, which was accentuated by a tight red dress that was a bit low-cut (revealing a good deal of cleavage for prying eyes) as well as short, stretching down just below her waist. She also wore a white jacket—possibly as a way to give her dress a bit more of a country look.

Jack, coming from spending the day with Celia, stood there, possibly in shock, for a moment. This, he expected in the city, but not in Forget-Me-Not—not even in a bar. "Are you new here?" the woman asked in a smooth, very mature-sounding voice, again contrasting Celia's nearly childlike voice and giggle.

"Y-yes, I just moved into the farm down the road," Jack answered, keeping his eyes on hers.

"Really?" the woman asked, raising an eyebrow in an almost seductive manner. "I find strong farmers sexy." She giggled and Jack turned the color of her dress. The woman gave him a closed-mouth smile and went behind the counter. "Can I get you anything, sexy farmer boy?"

Jack stammered for a moment before taking a deep breath and forcing himself back into gear. "Do you have any nonalcoholic?"

"Sure. We have water, milk, a few sodas and, for the more refined, some nonalcoholic wine and other assorted beverages." She spoke in a tone that suggested that she had said this before, which gave Jack a small amount of comfort. Hopefully, he'd be able to walk around at night without being mugged by the local drunks.

"I'll just have a soda—just the regular flavor," Jack said, smiling at her. She smiled back, but didn't open her mouth in doing so.

"You got it." She began pouring the drink. "What's your name?"

"Jack Todd. Yours?"

"I'm Muffy; here you go." She handed him the drink and Jack blinked. So this was one of the "hotties" that Rock mentioned. While he did not approve of Rock's blatant disrespect for Celia, he understood why Rock would include Muffy on the list.

"Do you own this bar?" Jack asked, sipping his drink.

"Nah, I just work here part time. This bar is owned by—"

At that moment, the door in the bar opened again and a tall, older man, maybe in his later thirties or early forties stepped out. He had thick, brown hair and bangs that had been flipped up in the front as well as heavy sideburns and a mustache.

"That's Griffin—_he_ owns the bar."

"Hey," Griffin said, reaching forward. Jack shook his hand heartily. "I'm Griffin. Please to meet you…" he trailed off, looking expectantly at Jack.

"Jack Todd. I just moved into that farm down the road."

"Jack! Well, welcome to Forget-Me-Not Valley and, more importantly, to Blue Bar. Will we be seeing you around more?"

"I'm not really twenty-one, actually," Jack started, but Griffin shrugged.

"We sell more than alcohol here, anyway. As you can see!" Jack smiled at Griffin; he seemed to be a nice man.

"Yes, I do see. I think that I'll probably be back—unless I want to order my drinks in by the case from town." Griffin smiled at him.

"Don't go doing that now. Anyway, you wouldn't be able to beat _our_ sodas very easily." And Jack had to admit that the soda that he was drinking _was _different from others. It seemed to have the perfect blend of sweetness and sharpness, giving it just enough of a punch, but not so much that he couldn't relax while drinking it.

"Do you make this?" Griffin smiled and nodded.

"Nearly everything you buy here is made right here." He laughed. "And, actually, are you planning on raising some cows?"

"Well, yes, I hope to."

"Then I'll be your first customer! It's expensive ordering from Mineral Town sometimes—and the prices have risen now that Louis is sick. So get to raising those cows!" Jack blinked in surprise, but nodded, his smile widening.

"Well then, I have one cow now. I'll bring you by some milk from her now and I'll think about investing in a few more as time goes on," Jack said, quite happy that he came here now.

"Good deal, good deal," said Griffin as he ran his hand through his hair. Muffy, all the while, watched Jack with a curious expression. _Maybe_, she thought, _he's cute and you definitely wouldn't mind settling down with a hard worker, Muffy._ Jack looked at her, but she didn't look away for a few seconds. After a moment, though, she smiled at him and got back to the job of cleaning the counter.

Jack finished his drink and stood. "How much do I owe you?"

"It's on the house today," Griffin said, patting him on the shoulder. "Just bring me by some milk—we'll call it even." Jack couldn't argue this and nodded. When he left the bar, he felt quite content, knowing that he had just made his first business deal as a farmer. Yes, maybe this farming business wouldn't be so hard after all. His heart swelled. He was in business for himself now—no burgers to flip, no bosses breathing down his neck, no phones to answer, no angry customers to deal with. He was free of the dirty, dingy city and in a place where he felt could be home.

Yes, it would be good. He was happy.

A fly buzzed past his face and Jack waved it away, but two other quite courageous insects joined it moments later. He attempted to shoo them, but they merely swerved around his hand and buzzed around his head, settling in his hair. Jack rubbed his head and the flies took flight, only to redouble their attacks.

"What is _with_ these things?" Jack demanded. He never expected an answer.

"Moi," said a gruff voice behind him. Jack swiveled around and found that a strange looking man had walked up behind him. The flies started buzzing around him instead and the man smiled. "Th-that's Taro and Hanoku and their friend. They l-like you a lot."

The man was very short—Jack towered over him by at least a head and Jack really wasn't all that tall himself. His hair was black and very greasy, caked with mud, and he looked as though he hadn't shaved for years, a very thick, curly beard covering most of his face, his nose barely visible him mouth completely covered. His eyes were big and wild with beady, brown pupils. He smelled of rotting trash and didn't look much better than it either, wearing what Jack could have sworn was nothing more than a potato sack with arm and head holes.

"Taro and Hanoku?" Jack asked, hoping that the man wasn't talking about what Jack thought he was.

"My f-friends." He pointed at the three flies buzzing around his head. "You s-smell like food, moi. Do you have food?"

"No, I don't," Jack said, hoping that the man would leave him alone.

"I-I'm Murrey. Let's be friends. C-can you b-buy me food?"

"I've…" Jack started, drawing it out while thinking of a good excuse. "Got to milk my cow!"

"S-steak!"

Jack looked around wildly for an avenue to escape and his eyes settled on another building. "Hey, you know the Blue Bar's giving out free food right now, you know," Jack said, pointing. Murrey reacted immediately, turning and walking hurriedly towards the bar. Jack breathed a sigh of relief and walked back onto his farm.

He was greeted by the same mangy mutt from the day before, sitting on the ground next to Takakura's house, his dirty tail wagging all the while. The puppy barked and sniffed Jack's leg, his nose traveling down to Jack's shoes. Jack stood there, frowning at it, and kneeled. He felt along the puppy's neck, feeling for what he already knew not to be there. With a sigh, he confirmed that, indeed, the dog had no collar.

"You got a family around here, bud?" The dog only panted happily in return. "Probably not. You'll never survive out there…" Jack rubbed his face and scratched the puppy behind the ears. The puppy's eyes glazed over and he calmed, resulting in a smile from Jack.

"In that case," he said, standing. "I guess I'll give you a bath. I'll take care of you for a while." The dog only barked his happy reply, and Jack picked him up, careful to face him away lest he have another stained shirt.

* * *

The old man coughed and hacked, spitting up some phlegm into a pail beside his bed. He took a wheezing, rattling breath and fell back onto his pillow. A heart monitor beeped steadily next to the hospital bed and an IV continuously dripped a pain relieving medicine into his bloodstream.

In an adjacent room in the Mineral Town Hospital, the local doctor sat talking with Mayor Thomas in lone tones so that the patient wouldn't hear.

"Yes, it's definitely pneumonia," said the doctor—a young man, barely in his twenties, with scruffy black hair and dressed in a surgically clean white lab coat.

"Will he be all right? Pneumonia's not so hard to take care of, right?" Thomas asked, wringing his hands. He took his handkerchief out of his shirt pocket and wiped his forehead.

"Normally, yes, but he's old, Thomas. At this age, pneumonia runs a much higher risk of being fatal than when he was in his prime. He's simply pushed himself too hard—even after becoming ill. He's strong, but…" The doctor trailed off, looking hesitant.

"Isn't there anything you can do?"

"There are many things to try, but I'll be honest, Thomas, it doesn't look good. He's very old and at peace with his life. I hear him praying to his wife every night—saying that he'll join her soon."

"Tim, you can't be serious…"

"Yes. He wishes to die."

Thomas wiped his forehead again and looked out of the window in Doctor Tim's office. It was such a beautiful day. Couples walked by, holding hands, wives hung wet laundry to dry, and two children ran by the hospital.

Thomas shuddered.


	4. She Works With Eager Hands

Well, here's my update! I won't lie to you all—I've been lazy. It's been finished for a week… but I couldn't come up with a good title. And, honestly, I didn't think very hard on it until tonight! But, all in all, laziness aside, I'm satisfied. Plus, I like the chapter title a _lot_ better than the old one. Fits the chapter more! Anywho, read on, faithful readers, and do review! Makes happiness wash over me. But, please… there's not really any point in asking me specifics about my story in a review—not if you really want answers, anyway. If you must, PM me with your questions and I'll answer them… if the answers don't contain real spoilers.

Now… I don't own Harvest Moon or its characters. This is merely a fan work made to honor the great series of Harvest Moon.

**Chapter 3: She Works With Eager Hands**

A thin pillar of wavering steam rose from a bowl of oatmeal sitting on the circular table in the middle of Jack's house. The smells of apple and cinnamon filled his nostrils and his stomach growled. Without any hesitation, Jack plunged his spoon into his instant breakfast and began shoveling into his mouth. It was like an angel descending from on high, gracing his taste buds with the rich tastes of the first and most important meal of the day.

After a few minutes passed, Jack finished his oatmeal and leaned back, sighing happily and rubbing his stomach. He picked up a newspaper that he had dropped onto the table and looked at the front page.

**Amnesiac woman thought dead for three years reunites with fiancé.**

He flipped the pages absently, looking for anything that might catch his eye. When he found, though, that the local paper lacked comics, he sighed and closed it, placing it back on the table. He stood and stretched, groaning loudly, and looked at his watch. Celia would be arriving in only a few minutes and today he was determined to show her that Miles, his new four-legged companion, could indeed sit on command. The only problem, of course, was that Miles was incredibly stubborn on the subject of doing _anything_ on command.

Outside, Miles began to bark excitedly and Jack smiled, quickly pulling his suspenders onto his shoulders and briefly checking himself in the mirror. He opened the door, his smile broadening when he saw Celia kneeling beside Miles, scratching him behind his ears. She looked up, seeing Jack, and returned the smile.

It had been a full week since first arriving in Forget-Me-Not and already Jack was becoming used to the small town lifestyle. Waking up at five in the morning was growing easier, and, often, people would wander onto his farm just for the sake of greeting him during the day. It was refreshing and energizing and Jack enjoyed wondering who would be visiting each day.

"Have you seen the crops yet?" Celia asked, excitement snaking its way into her voice, her eyes, and her lips. Jack blinked blankly at her and her smile grew. She grabbed his hand and dragged him towards his field, pointing at the parallel lines in the dirt where the tomato seeds had been planted. At first, Jack didn't see the significance of this, but upon a closer inspection, he found the source of her excitement.

Little seedlings, tiny green sprouts, had pushed through the topsoil and glinted bright in the morning dew. Jack's heart skipped a beat and his face split into a grin. His plants were _growing_. In another couple weeks' time (more like a couple months, according to Celia) he would be feasting on some huge, juicy tomatoes. Life was good.

His spirits rose and all fatigue disappeared. His lips curled into a large grin and he laughed excitedly. Without thinking, he wrapped his arms around Celia, laughing and hugging her tightly. After a few seconds, though, they both parted, blushing deeply, and unsure really of what to say. They both silently agreed to merely get on with the farm work. Jack began by pulling up weeds that were already threatening to overcome the tomato sprouts while Celia carefully and meticulously provided them with the ideal amount of water.

"It's hard work," she said softly, running the watering can over another line of tomatoes. "But you see why I enjoy it, don't you?" Jack nodded and gave another weed a tug. "It's more than fun for me, though."

Jack looked at her curiously and she smiled at him before pressing on. "All my life I've been a sickly child. I was a bit premature and my immune system has always been weak because of it."

"I'm sorry, Celia," Jack started, but she shook her head.

"No, no, that's why I'm here in Forget-Me-Not! My parents felt that the country would be a great way to build my immune system as well as teach me some important lessons." Her smile became a bit sheepish. "I'll admit; I used to be a bit whiny."

Jack began chuckling and shook his head. "Somehow, I just can't see that."

"It's true! I was a bad little kid—I was spoiled! But sending me out here to live with Vesta and Marlin—it's been an amazing experience, you know? My health's doing a lot better too—I haven't gotten really sick in a long time!"

"The country air, huh?"

"Some people might say that, but I like to think it's the plants. You might think I'm silly, but, in a way, I feel like plants are giving me part of their energy. I help them and they help me—we rely on each other."

Jack looked at her with a small smile and shook his head. "I don't think you're silly at all. Why would I?"

"I get a lot of strange looks, that's all." Celia blushed and looked back at the sprouts. "Well, I think we got these taken care of. Do you need to take care of Schala?"

"Yeah, I suppose I should," Jack said, looking over at his cow, who was contently grazing in the field. "I ordered a rooster and a hen, you know."

"Oh, really?" Celia asked, raising her eyebrows. "You followed my advice!"

"Yes, I did." Jack rubbed the back of his neck and smiled. "My alarm clock is ridiculously annoying, anyway. Five rolls around and _beep, beep, beep_! It just doesn't end—and it's a royal pain to turn off. Like I can find the off button when I'm too tired to even open my eyes!"

Celia giggled and grinned widely. "Well, I should get back to the plantation. Vesta's wanting to start getting one of our fields ready for corn planting and that's a lot of work!"

"Do you think you could bring me some other vegetable seeds tomorrow?" Jack asked, looking at the other two fields he had.

"Of course. I can't give them to you for free, though."

"Yeah, I know—but I need more to do. One field of tomatoes is giving me _way_ too much free time, and this place doesn't have cable, the TV doesn't have a VCR, much less a Gamecube, and if I get grabbed by Rock one more time to hang out, I swear, I'm going to get Schala to sit on my face."

Celia giggled and nodded. "I will make sure to bring some, then." She paused, trying to word her next words carefully. "Do you want me to show you something cool?"

"Well, sure!" Jack said.

"Tonight, after dark, I'll come by your farm, okay? I think you'll like it." Jack frowned slightly in confusion, but Celia shook her head. "It's a surprise. Just be here, all right?"

"All right…" Jack said, narrowing his eyes in mock suspicion.

"Good. And I need to get back to the farm, so I'll see you then?"

"Right. Around six, I guess?"

"Yes, that's perfect! Good bye, Jack!" Jack replied with his own farewell and Celia hurried off the farm, leaving him alone with Schala and Miles, whom he had forgotten to show to Celia.

"Tomorrow," Jack said, looking at Miles. "Now, sit!" Miles wagged his tail and completely ignored Jack's command. Jack sighed and climbed over the fence, intent on milking Schala for all she was worth.

* * *

Cliff Andrews walked down from his room in the Mineral Town Inn, yawning, but blinked in surprise when a very excited breakfast crowd in the dining area below greeted him. Nearly every table was full of the men and women of Mineral Town, heads all bent low, and a low rumble of indiscernible words being emitted from their mouths.

He stepped down onto the main floor and looked around for an empty table for him to sit at, but found nothing. Cliff sighed and walked along the outside of the room, reaching the bar, and sat on the far stool. He was separated from the other people at the bar by two stools and they paid him no mind, all of them content to whisper amongst themselves.

A pretty young lady with striking orange hair and a cute smile, dressed in a yellow shirt and blue overalls, stepped up to the counter with a notepad in her hand. However, she wasn't smiling this morning and her hair was pulled back in a much sloppier-than-usual ponytail. She looked tired. "Good morning, Cliff," she said. "Do you want the usual?"

Cliff blushed and looked down at the table. "That's fine," he said, but his voice was barely audible above the din of the crowd.

"What was that? I didn't catch it," she said, leaning a bit lower in order to see his face better.

Cliff nodded quickly and muttered, "Sorry." Ann took this to mean that he wanted the usual—although not without a small frown and a sigh—and jotted it down on her notepad. She hurried off into the kitchen and Cliff sighed, running his hands through his hair. He was such an _idiot_.

From where he sat, he could just make out phrases and whispers from his neighbors of two stools away.

"…says he might not make it."

"…his crop?"

"No idea. I suppose we'll…"

"Here's a coffee, Cliff." Doug, Ann's father, set a cup of coffee in front of him. Doug was an older man with a receding line of the same orange hair that Ann had as well as a bushy mustache.

"Thanks," Cliff whispered, smelling the coffee.

"Quite the crowd today," Doug said, smiling. "You'll find that whenever the village wishes to discuss something, this is the place to come. I stay up to date on all the news of town and never have to leave the building." He laughed, but it faded sooner than normal.

Cliff poured some cream into his coffee and stirred, saying nothing.

"It's not a bad life, really, if you're okay with hours of slaving over a stove and then, in the evening, breaking up bar brawls. I get by, though."

Cliff nodded and sipped his cup.

"Are you planning on getting a job here? Settling down?" Doug asked, leaning closer so he didn't have to yell.

Cliff frowned and looked at his tan colored drink. "I don't know," he said finally. He took another sip. Doug didn't say anything else, but didn't move away. Even though Cliff would have preferred to just say nothing at all, he felt it might be rude to say nothing, so he changed the subject to something Doug might perhaps like to talk about without expecting much from Cliff. "Why are all these people here? Because that farmer's dying?"

"I suppose it is," Doug said, standing up straight. "Enjoy your meal." He moved on to some of the other customers, and Cliff frowned deeply. _This_ was why he didn't like to talk to people. He always made idiot comments that touched a nerve. What a stupid question! Doug and the old farmer were probably friends—it had to be killing Doug for Louis to be dying!

Cliff sighed and closed his eyes, forcing himself to tune out the inn's noise. Memories flooded his mind and he winced. A slap. A cry of pain. A little boy's sobs drowned out the voices—one male and one female—arguing.

"Here's your meal…" Ann's voice brought him from his memories and the smell of freshly cooked pancakes, eggs, and bacon rose to his nostrils. Cliff nodded, his face neutral and his eyes sad. "Shall I add it to your bill?" He nodded again, already cutting into the pancake. "Enjoy!"

Finally, Cliff sighed and looked up at her. "Thank you," he said softly, but just loudly enough for her to hear. Ann's face lit up at this and she set some napkins down in front of him before hurrying off to help another customer. Cliff finished his pancakes quickly and stood, pushing his plate forward to where Doug graciously grabbed it and put it at the top of a growing stack of plates that needed to be washed.

His head down and hands shoved into his pockets, Cliff walked out of the inn and into the sunshine. He found the streets empty, void of life on a morning upon which life should have been overflowing. Not a cloud was in the sky, the morning chill was fighting a losing battle against the midday warmth, and gulls squawked above, looking hungrily around for anything left behind.

Cliff frowned, but took a deep breath and turned left, walking slowly along the brick road until he reached Rose Square, a very large, open area on the edge of town. It was here, Cliff heard, that most festivals were held. However, festivals just weren't Cliff's sort of thing, so he really didn't care too much. Instead, he walked quickly through it, heading towards another street that turned left again.

It was this street that led him to his destination—a small church on the northeast corner of town. Just like every morning, he opened the doors and stepped into the dimly lit sanctuary, intent on spending his time deep in thought and in prayer, but found that this morning was indeed unlike every other morning in every way. Instead of being empty with the exception of the pastor, anyone who wasn't currently at the inn seemed to have holed themselves up in the church, praying in little groups of two or three.

_Are they like this with every villager at death's door?_ Cliff wondered to himself as he turned and walked back out of the church. His heart sank and he walked back in the direction he had come from. _Or is there something else going on that I just don't know about?_

* * *

_Van is coming back into town today. I'm going to buy a fishing rod—I'm sick of that stupid piece of crap I have now. I might as well use it to play fetch with a dog or something._

Nami held the pen above the page in her diary, nibbling gently on her lip. Finally, she shook her head, placed the pen down, and closed the book, locking its clasp into place. She shoved it into her bag, twisting and drilling it deep past the other few belongings she had, releasing it when she was certain it was surrounded on all sides by other things, hiding it from anyone that might look into her bag.

She stood and looked around her room in the Inner Inn, taking in the sight of two beds—one messy with sheets thrown about, while the other was spotless with the exception of a few articles of clothing that had been laid on top of it. The room was over laden with artifacts from Tim and Ruby's travels—a short totem pole, an abstract painting of what Nami swore was a cat, an end table with gold trim, and many more than Nami cared to pay attention to—and had the air of a culture clash. _Still_, she had to admit, _Ruby makes it a _good_ culture clash. Just like her cooking._

She crossed over to her balcony door and opened it, stepping out into the late morning. Already, people were milling about beside the inn, waiting for Van to arrive and ready to purchase his latest wares, if not sell off some of their old knickknacks. She looked to the right and saw, just coming down from the path that led up to Mineral Town, a man that was quite fat with thin, black hair, and bushy eyebrows and mustache. He was dressed in a fancy red and blue shirt and nice jeans. His nose was adorned with small, circular spectacles and his hand gripped the reins of a mule that was pulling a covered wagon.

"On time, as always," Nami muttered. Down below, she heard a familiar voice and scowled.

"Why is everyone standing around here?" Jack asked Muffy, who was standing on her toes in order to see if Van was coming yet.

"Van's coming!" Muffy said, smiling at him.

"Van?"

"He's this traveling merchant that comes through here every few weeks. Usually he has some really good stuff and with summer coming, I want to see if he's got any good bathing suits."

Nami turned away from the scene and walked back into her room, only to leave the room again at once, heading downstairs and out of the inn. At the sound of the door's opening, Jack turned to look at her and his smile faded.

"Nami," he said, nodding curtly. Nami merely grunted and walked past him, heading to a tree that stood between the Inner Inn and the Blue Bar. It was here that Van liked to set up shop and she realized that she'd have to move soon, but she enjoyed leaning up against it, so she did just that.

Muffy looked at Jack and giggled softly. "You really get on her bad side, don't you?" she asked, smirking at him.

Jack rubbed the back of his neck and smiled sheepishly. "I guess you could say that. First time she said anything to me, she asked me if I was blind."

"Must be something about you that just ticks her off," Muffy said, smiling sweetly at him.

"Have to say the feeling's mutual." Jack glanced over at Nami and frowned. She glanced back at him, but looked away indifferently.

"She comes to the bar a lot. Rarely gets drunk, really, but every once in a while, she just won't stop. She doesn't talk much about her past, but the whole angry thing drops. A lot of times, she seems sad."

Jack frowned and resisted the urge to look back at Nami. He opened his mouth to speak, but any words he had were swept away by a current of excitement that seemed to pass from person to person. Chattering among the crowd escalated and even Jack felt a twinge of excitement—for what reason, he really didn't know.

A glance to the right, though, revealed the source of the villagers' glee—a portly man that could have only been the Van that Muffy had spoken on—had just crossed over the bridge. He grinned and waved at the people of Forget-Me-Not. Though he'd certainly not call Van a _celebrity_ in the town—no, teenagers were not shrieking his name and asking for autographs—he was most definitely a popular face. Or at least his wares were popular, as already people had begun attempting to peek inside the covered cart that his mule was pulling.

"Oh, I hope he has some really pretty bathing suits," Muffy said, stretching to see his cart better. "Come on—there's going to be a line if we don't try to get to the front."

She grabbed his wrist, causing Jack to blush a tad, and pulled him past unsuspecting villagers, stopping as close to the tree that Nami was leaning under as she could. Nami, however, was no longer leaning under it, but was standing calmly in the front of a quickly forming line. The only person Jack saw ahead of her was the little boy Hugh, although the boy's parents, much to Jack's confusion and slight amusement were a few spaces behind _him_ in the line.

Van arrived at his spot below the tree and pulled the covering off his cart. At once, Nami and Hugh stepped forward. Hugh pointed at a softball on one of the cart's shelves while Nami grabbed a fishing pole off it. She paid for both items and walked away, leaving with a fishing pole slung over her shoulder. Hugh waved at her as she left and quickly ran back to rejoin his parents.

Soon the line in front of Muffy and Jack dwindled and Muffy stepped up to Van, who greeted her with a smile. "Good morning, Muffy," he said happily. "Who's this?"

"This is Jack," Muffy said, grabbing Jack's arm again and pulling him closer. "He just moved into the old farm."

"Then you'll be interested in this sickle I've just acquired!" Van exclaimed, grabbing a small sickle off the shelf. It had a metallic black handle and its blade glinted in the sunlight. It was much better than the sickle that Jack had now, although, admittedly, he hadn't even used it yet.

"I already have a sickle," Jack began, but Van pressed on.

"This one is very lightweight and extremely sharp. Guaranteed to remain sharp for a minimum of five years. Its handle will never bend or lose its shape or your money back in full. Competitors will sell it for a thousand gold, but I'll give it to you for seven fifty."

"Thank you very much, but—" Jack started, but was silenced by Van again.

"Since you're a new customer, I'll even give you a third off whatever you purchase today as a one time offer."

By now, Muffy was looking expectantly at Jack, hoping that not only would he buy this sickle, but also a shimmering bathing suit that was hanging off the side of the cart…

"Well, all right. I'll take that and the bathing suit there." Muffy released a bit of a happy sigh as Jack gave Van the money. Van handed him the sickle and then handed Muffy the bathing suit.

"Pleasure doing business with you," Van said, smiling at them. He moved on to his next customer—a short, balding man dressed in blue overalls with a big, yellow smiley face on the front. Jack and Muffy walked in the general direction of the bar, Muffy placing the bathing suit against her, making sure it'd fit.

"How do you think I'll look in it, Jack?" she asked flirtatiously. Jack's eyes widened and he stammered for a moment before Muffy giggled again. "Maybe once it warms up a bit more, we can go swimming together sometime?"

Jack blushed a tad, but smiled at her. "Yeah," he said. "That'd be fun." She giggled again, waved a quick good-bye, and disappeared into the bar. Jack rubbed the back of his neck and turned back to the line in front of Van's cart. He walked back towards his farm, his new sickle in hand. As he walked past the line of people, he smiled and shook his head slightly.

_They have little information of the goings on outside this island,_ he thought to himself. _That's why men like Van are such a big deal to them, I suppose. He's not just a merchant—he's a lifeline to these people._

As he entered the farm, he looked across the way to Vesta's farm and smiled. Celia was out among the crops, crouching and inspecting some of the plants that were already growing. His smile faded, though, when he saw her cover her mouth and cough. The coughing continued for a few moments before, finally, she took a deep breath, wiped her mouth, and stood.

Jack frowned and turned away, heading into his tool shed. She was _sick_. He sighed and shook his head. _She_ of all people didn't deserve to be sick. _But that's the way life is, isn't it, Jack?_ He grimaced at the thought. _A lot of people don't deserve the hands dealt them. _

He had planned on exploring the town a bit more—there were still many places that he had hardly even seen. However, now, he didn't feel all that much like even leaving his farm, much less exploring. He put the sickle on its shelf next to his old one and walked out of the shed and into the house, closing the door softly.

_Mom, Dad… Amber._


	5. Light of the World

Here's the next chapter, late as usual, but the plot is beginning to come underway. If you're interested at all, this should be the last of the slower, introduction chapters. The actual plot should kick it up a few dozen notches within the next few chapters!

Disclaimer: As, hopefully, you all know, I don't own Harvest Moon or anything HM related. Enough with the small talk—this is an important chapter!

**Chapter 4: Light of the World**

_It's refreshing_, Jack thought as he watered his tiny tomato sprouts. _It is such a cool little town._ "I like it here," he said.

"Well, good!" said a voice behind him and he yelped, whirling around, water still trickling out of his watering can. Celia received a spray of water to her face and Jack's eyes widened.

"I'm sorry!" he said, dropping the can. "I'm _so_ sorry…" Celia shook her head, wiping her face.

"It's all right," she said, smiling at him. "It's been a warm day—a bit of water never hurt anyone on a day like this." Jack smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck, chuckling softly. "Are you ready?"

Jack frowned slightly and blinked in confusion. "Ready for wh—_oh_!" He blushed deeply, having completely forgotten about the fact that Celia wanted to show him something. Celia's smile faded just a bit and Jack felt his heart rate increase. "No, no, I remember! Yeah, I'm ready!"

"We don't have to go if you don't want to," Celia said, giving Jack what he saw to be a forced smile. "I mean, it's been a hard day of work and if you're too tired…"

"No, let's go. I could use a break." Celia seemed to brighten a bit more at this and she smiled.

"Follow me, then." With that, she turned around and walked out of Jack's farm. Jack quickly followed and found himself trekking up the wooden steps beside his farm. Upon reaching the top, they entered a small glade, the stream churning along violently to their right, spurred on by a tall waterfall that poured over a cliff. It was in the shadow of this cliff that the glade prospered, flowers and trees and grass growing everywhere. To their left was a small, clear pond, so still that it seemed to be made more of glass than water. At the far end of the glade was a large, very old and majestic tree that looked to be a haven for many different animals.

However, the most interesting thing of the meadow, Jack thought, were the two lines of large flowers that formed a bit of a row on either side of the path that led through it. Each flower was easily as tall as he, growing on a large, green stem, large leaves extending from it. It drooped over a bit so that the flower bud at the tip faced the ground. The bud itself was a brilliant blue color and beautiful in its own right. However, Jack was curious as to what the flowers were like when they bloomed. Unfortunately, he saw, the flowers had not yet bloomed when they arrived. But he was curious, nonetheless, as to why Celia had to bring him here.

"Have you ever seen these?" Celia asked, going over to one of the huge flowers that were even taller than she was.

"I've seen them a few times," Jack replied, smiling at her. Celia's face fell slightly.

"Have you ever seen them at night…?" she wondered aloud, her voice betraying her hope that Jack hadn't. Thankfully for her, Jack hadn't and he told her so. Her face lit up again. "Great! You'll be in for a treat!"

"What are they called?" Jack asked while he looked up at the sky, seeing it get gradually darker as night approached.

"They're called Gaia's Lights." When Jack gave her a curious look, she shook her head. "You'll just have to see when nightfall comes!"

Thankfully, it would seem that nightfall had just arrived, for only a few moments later, the meadow grew very dark. However, Jack could still see enough to see why the Gaia's Lights never bloomed when he came—they only bloomed when it was night. He watched the one nearest to him as it began to open up. At first it seemed normal, the petals—five in all—spread out. Inside the flower was a small, round bulb that seemed to glow dimly in the evening light.

Jack moved a bit closer to the bulb to inspect it, but let out a cry when the dimly glowing bulb suddenly lit up with a brilliant white light. All at once, every one of Gaia's Lights lit up like street lamps, bathing the meadow in a blue-tinted brilliance. Jack's eyes were wide and his breath caught.

"Oh, my…" he said softly, staring at the flower. "Is this a real flower?"

"Yes, it is! It's definitely native to this area, though. Almost no one outside of Forget-Me-Not even knows about it."

"How does it light up?"

"Well…" Celia said, moving closer to one. Jack looked at her and his wide eyes softened. There was no doubt about it now. Biting her lip, her eyes wide with excitement, the bluish-white haze that surrounded her—she was beautiful. "Some people think the petals gather sunlight during the day and the bulb in the middle stores it for when the flower blooms." Jack had to admit that it sounded possible… "But I think it's because this meadow's magical."

"Why would you say that?"

Celia blushed a bit, but looked at the pond. "In Mineral Town, there's a waterfall like the one over there. A lot of people claim that the Harvest Goddess lives in the pool of water below the fall. Some people also think the Mineral Town waterfall and this pond are connected by an underground river. That's why the pond never runs dry."

"Why do you think it's magical, though? I mean, if the Goddess lives somewhere else…"

Celia grinned at him. "Watch this." She picked up a small stone from the ground and walked over to the still pond. She held the rock above it and dropped it. The rock dropped to the surface and slipped down into its depths without so much as a splash. A single ripple extended out from the impact point, but it disappeared within seconds, the pond growing eerily still and glassy once again.

Jack frowned deeply and moved closer, peering into the pond. For a pond full of stagnant water, it was clean. It looked more than clean—it looked _pure_. Regardless of the dirt around it, he simply couldn't see any dirt floating around in the water itself. He reached out slowly and dipped his finger in it. Jack wrenched his hand away from the pond, cradling his finger.

"What's wrong?" Celia asked, looking at him and frowning.

"It's _freezing_," Jack hissed, placing his numb finger in his mouth. He shivered and felt Goosebumps form all over his arms. The cold had been _so_ frigid that it was painful—and he felt that he would have surely gotten frostbite had he left it in there any longer.

"That's strange," Celia said softly. "I've seen other people touch it before and they said it was scalding."

"Yeah, well, it's cold now," Jack snapped. Celia frowned and Jack felt a pang of guilt. "Sorry, it's just… my finger's _really_ cold."

"Here." Celia reached out and took his hand, and holding it between her hands tightly. For a moment, Jack felt nothing, but soon her hands' warmth had begun to do its trick. He felt his face get hot as his finger warmed up and he wasn't sure if he was relieved or disappointed when she let go of his hand.

Celia stood up and walked over to one of the brightly shining flowers and reached up, stroking one of the petals gently. "I love coming here at night," she said softly. "It helps me think. I love nature, but nature grows dark when night falls, you know? But here, it only grows brighter."

Jack nodded thoughtfully and stood. He walked past her and looked around, his eyes settling on the large tree at the far edge of the meadow. It was brightly lit, its old bark gray and probably dead, he figured. The tree looked many years old, hundreds, he'd have to guess with how vast it was. Near the bottom of the tree was a small hole, a naturally made archway and, for a moment, he was sure that he saw a flicker of orange in it.

He bent down and inched closer, not really sure why he was trying to be so quiet. Whispers, he thought he could hear whispers… Whispers that asked him what he was doing. Whispers from behind him. Whispers that weren't really whispers.

"Jack?" Jack startled and looked back at Celia, smiling.

"Sorry," he said sheepishly. Celia smiled back at him and shook her head.

"I was saying that it looked like it might rain soon. We should head on back."

"Oh, right." Jack stood up straight and felt a bit of disappointment. He would have enjoyed staying there with Celia a bit—or a lot—longer. Regardless, though, she was right. Threatening clouds were covering up the stars above, and Jack felt a breeze kick up. He thought for a moment that he heard a low rumble of thunder in the distance.

"Head back?" Celia asked and Jack nodded. They walked down the wooden steps that led back into the village and, once they reached the side entrance to Jack's farm, Celia looked at him. "So, I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"

Jack nodded, but then a thought occurred to him. "How about I walk you home?" he said abruptly as Celia turned to leave. She looked back at him, a bit surprised, and looked as though she was going to say no at first, but then she nodded.

"That'd be nice."

And so they continued back down the stairs. "What's working at the plantation like, Celia?" Jack asked.

"It's fun," Celia said, looking over at him. "Vesta is really nice and fair—she never gives anyone too much work and she works just as hard if not harder than anyone else. She's really good at what she does, but, oh, when she feels that someone's trying to rip her off…" Celia trailed off, looking ahead with a half-smile. "Well, it's kind of scary."

"Who's that other man that works there?" Jack said, referring to the man with thick, bushy black hair that he had seen stalking around the plantation before.

"Oh, that's Vesta's brother, Marlin. He's… well, he's Marlin!" Celia laughed a bit. "He's nice, though, but quiet and kind of moody. But he's like Vesta when he thinks he's been wronged—which happens a lot between Vesta and him, anyway. He can be really loud when he wants to."

Jack nodded. "That's normal between siblings."

"I figure, but I'm an only child, so I really don't know from experience." After a moment, she looked at him. "Do you have any siblings?"

"I used to have an older sister," Jack said, his voice growing softer.

"Used too?" Celia asked, but then her eyes widened as it dawned on her.

"She died about eight years ago. Drowned on a rafting trip my family was taking. I was really excited and was bouncing around like an idiot. He hit some rapids and, of course, I went right over the side of the raft. Amber jumped in after me.

"We were both wearing life jackets and tried to swim to shore, but the current was too strong. We hit some rapids and all hell broke loose. I got thrown around for a while and breathed in enough water to nearly drown myself. I lost sight of Amber somewhere in the chaos."

Celia was watching him with wide eyes and her mouth was open slightly. "I finally ended up washing up on shore. Amber's lifejacket was found much further downstream, snagged on a tree branch. _She_ was found on a shore a few miles down. They think that she must have gotten snagged and, when she couldn't get free, she began to panic and unbuckled the jacket, thinking she could swim to shore—the branch was right next to the river's edge—not even five feet away.

"She must have misjudged the current, though. Mom divorced Dad shortly after that. She still loved him, I think, but it was his idea to go on that rafting trip. She preferred Disneyworld. She was never really able to forget that—and I can't blame her. The only reason _I_ didn't blame Dad was because I blamed myself."

"You don't still think…"

"No. No, that was a long time ago. I've grown up since then. Wasn't Dad's fault and wasn't my fault—it was a freak accident. Don't worry, though, I'm not going to go drown myself in beer or anything. I accepted her death a long time ago."

Celia watched him closely as they stopped in front of the plantation, but Jack smiled at her, being accustomed to this reaction by now. Finally, she accepted that he was telling the truth and returned his smile.

"I had fun tonight," she said softly and Jack could tell that she still wanted to say something about his story.

"So did I. We should do it again sometime."

"I agree." There was a pause, and then, "Jack, I'm sorry about your sister."

Jack nodded slowly and looked at her eyes. They were full of concern and worry and he felt his heart lift. With that lifting of his heart, he felt a strange boldness empower him, urge him, push him to take a risk. So he leaned forward and kissed her. There were no fireworks nor did his mind get hazy. The kiss was brief, for they both jerked backwards moments after their lips first met. Jack turned red. Celia turned redder.

"Celia, I-I'm so—" Jack said quickly, his eyes wide. He noticed with annoyance that the boldness that had urged him to take the risk had now fled for the hills.

"It's okay…" Celia said, obviously very surprised at Jack's actions. Why shouldn't she be? Jack acted like a jerk, an idiot—a man with no respect whatsoever.

"No, no, it isn't. That was really… _really_ rude of me. I don't know what came over me! I just… it crossed my mind and I…"

"I-I'd better go inside," Celia said softly.

"Celia…"

"It's all right! I'm not angry." But she wasn't happy either, Jack saw, as she hurried into her house without a good-bye.

Jack walked back towards his house, cursing himself multiple times under his breath. "_Stupid_. What were you _thinking_? Barely know her… .not even a _date_…" He continued to mutter until he had crossed the bridge that passed over the stream, when he realized with a start that he had just _crossed_ the said bridge twice without a single thought about it.

"Huh. Maybe I'm getting over that stupid fear," he said, staring at the bridge. However, not wanting to find out if he was right or not, he hurried along to the entrance to his farm. At the entrance, though, he changed his mind about going home immediately, and, instead, headed towards the bar. While he may not drown himself in beer, he never promised he wouldn't attempt to do it with a soda.

* * *

When Jack pushed the door to the bar open, he was greeted with the sounds of a guitar being strummed, glasses clinking and sliding along the counter, laughter and talking, as well as the strong smells of alcohol and sweaty men after a hard day's work.

"Hi, Jack!" Muffy said, waving at him from behind the bar. Jack smiled at her and sat down in an empty stool, being greeted and greeting in turn the others there. Across the counter, while Muffy served the drinks, Griffin sat on a stool, one leg propped up on a higher rung, his guitar in his lap.

Jack looked around at the bar's patrons, finding that most of them he knew, even if it were only by seeing them around the town. To his right was the older man he saw earlier at Van's shop, still dressed in the blue, smiley overalls, and to his left was the dark-skinned artist Jack recognized as Cody.

He was a large man with beefy arms and legs, an enormous neck, and eyes that seemed much colder and meaner than he actually was. Cody had a bleached blond Mohawk that ended in a small ponytail, and what looked like native war paint had been smeared onto his cheeks. He always seemed to be deep in thought and Jack observed him pacing around in front of his metal trailer at the bottom of the hill that the village was built on for hours at a time. In fact, Jack was surprised that he ever even ventured _away_ from his trailer.

"How's it going, Cody?" Jack asked and Cody blinked, looking at him. He grunted and Jack smiled.

"I was hoping something to drink might loosen me up and give me inspiration, but it did nothing." Cody stood and left some money on the counter. "I'll see you around, Jack."

"See you later, Cody." Cody turned and walked out, the door shutting behind him. The older man belched beside Jack and he grimaced, smelling a very strong whiff of alcohol on the man's breath. Deciding that he didn't want to run the risk of the man passing out and falling on Jack's shoulder, Jack moved into Cody's old seat.

"Never seen you in the bar."

Jack tensed in surprise at the voice and looked to his left, seeing Nami sitting next to him, her elbows on the counter, a drink held in one hand, the contents half-finished already. Another glass sat empty on the bar in front of her. Her hair was messy and it covered one of her eyes while her other eye stared, unfocused, at the liquid in her glass.

"I don't come often," Jack said, his voice hesitant, unsure of how to react to this side of Nami—a side which he didn't really think existed. "I don't drink."

"Then what can I get you?" Muffy said, smiling at Jack from across the counter and holding a notepad in her hands,

"Oh, sorry, I'll just have a coke. Cherry flavoring, please." Muffy nodded and hurried off to get the drink for him.

"What's the point in coming to a bar if not to drink?" Nami said thoughtfully before sipping at her drink again.

"To socialize?"

"I'm flattered," she said flatly, setting her glass down.

"Obviously, I didn't realize you would be here."

Silence fell between them and Muffy brought Jack his drink, looking eager to talk, but other customers drew her away before she could get even a word in. Jack drank a bit of his coke and glanced at Nami, whose hair hindered him from seeing her face. She was leaning forward over her drink, though, her head bowed slightly, her eyes, he was certain, staring blankly at what was left of her beverage.

"Why did you even come to a backwater place like this, anyway?" she said finally, after a few minutes and another drink. Her voice was softer now, the typical harsh edge all but evaporated.

"Why did _you_?" Jack shot back, remembering how she lived at the inn. Nami was silent for a few moments, finally replying even more quietly.

"I don't know." Jack looked at her again. "I've traveled around a lot and somehow ended up here. I only planned to stay for a few days, but that just didn't happen."

"Why were you traveling?" Nami took a drink and didn't answer this question. After another moment of silence, Jack frowned slightly and took a drink himself. "My father was going to take over the farm with Takakura, but he died really unexpectedly. Tak came to his funeral and found me—Dad wanted me to take over the farm in his place. Obviously, I decided to do it."

"Obviously."

"Is there something about me that just ticks you off?" Jack asked, a bit annoyed now. Nami finished off her drink and chuckled softly.

"I'm just like that." She stood up and Jack caught a glance of her face, which was still strangely emotionless. "Few things don't annoy me." She turned and walked out of the bar, her hands shoved deep into her pockets.

Jack sighed and looked back at his coke. There was a gasp in front of him and he looked up to see Muffy staring at the empty glasses. "She... she didn't pay for her drinks!"

He shook his head and sighed again. "I'll cover it, Muffy. I think I got her mad or something."

"You don't have to—I can always get a hold of her tomorrow or…"

"Don't worry about it." Jack placed enough gold on the counter to cover both his drink and Nami's and stood. "I'll see you later."

"Bye, Jack. Thanks."

Jack nodded and walked out, not really feeling any better than when he first went into the bar.

Once outside, he took a deep breath and sighed. The inn's door shut and he assumed it was Nami heading in to bed. He walked slowly and thoughtfully back towards his farm, glancing up at the inn as Nami's room's light clicked on. Muffy had mentioned that, when she relaxed and drank, she seemed sad. At the time, Jack found that difficult to believe, but now he saw what she meant. There was something about Nami, while aloof, rude, and cruel, that he couldn't place his finger on. He was curious about her.

And then there was Celia. He sighed and looked towards Vesta's farm, serene and silent in the night. Undoubtedly, she was lying in bed, sleeping soundly, her dreams happily away from Jack and his rudeness. Jack rubbed his forehead. He was _such_ an idiot. Why did he kiss her? Why did he bend to his own stupidity? Jack shook his head and walked onto his farm.

There was a flash of lightning high above and he twitched in surprise. The lightning lit up his farm in a blinding light, revealing things that would otherwise be invisible in the darkness. For example, the small figure standing over Jack's budding crops.

Jack released a cry and took a step back, partially in surprise and partly in fear of the figure that was again shrouded in darkness. "W-who's there?" he asked, praying that he would hear Takakura's voice answer back, all the while realizing that the figure was much small than Tak.

When no sound came in reply, Jack took a deep breath, grabbing a stick—not much bigger than a twig—off the ground. Miles was barking wildly from inside the house and Jack cursed himself for not noticing it sooner. He moved closer and heard a familiar buzzing noise. In fact, when a trio of flies began buzzing around him, undoubtedly smelling the sugary coke on his breath, his fear evaporated.

"Get away from there, Murrey! Geez, you scared me half to death…"

"Moi. Y-your plants haven't g-grown."

"No kidding. It'll be a few more months."

"C-can I have your cow? Sh-she looks delicious."

"_No!_ Murrey, get off my farm or I'll sic my dog on you!"

"Moi. I-I'm hungry…"

Jack sighed and shook his head. "Go talk to Ruby. I'm sure she'll give you some food."

"M-moi." Without another word, Murrey—and his insect friends—headed off his farm. Jack sighed, and his already pitiful evening grew worse when he felt a misty breeze hit his face. Without warning, he was caught in a downpour that rendered him dripping by the time he shuffled into his house, pushing Miles back with his foot. He walked over to his bed and sat down, taking off his soaked shirt and throwing it into a corner where he kept various dirty clothes. He took off his pants and threw them into the same pile. Lying back on his bed, he stared up at the ceiling. The day's events soon grew hard to remember and his eyelids drooped.

"Shouldn't have kissed Nami… no…. no, Celia… she seems so sad… Nami… Nami seems sad… Shouldn't have…" His eyes closed and his mouth was left slightly open. Outside, the rain continued to poor, thunder shook the house, and lightning lit up the sky. In Forget-Me-Not, all was quiet outside. A blonde headed woman served drinks to eager customers, the redhead solemnly wrote in her journal, and the brunette slept soundly, curled up in blankets to keep warm.

In Mineral Town, children slept and elders lied awake. A doctor watched his patient's monitors with care, hoping but doubting the patient's ability to survive the night. A mayor paced in his house and a fisherman enjoyed the catch of the day. Parents sat by their windows, peering into the darkness, hoping to soon wake up from this nightmare. Rain splashed down onto the streets, on houses, on crops, on a river, and on a lake.

* * *

Well, there's the chapter. Some good, preliminary romance to start off the plot with a bang. Anyway, I've already started writing on the next chapter and I expect it to draw me in very soon again—I've been waiting for this one since this story was in its very first planning stages. As I said earlier, the introductory chapters are really over. In my own mind, the first part of the first part of the story has passed. The next chapter will start off with a bang and explain something that I've always wondered about while playing Harvest Moon… 

Anyway, hopefully, you will see my story at the top of the update list again very soon!

God bless!


	6. She Wept

And, after a long wait… I've returned. I'm sorry, guys and girls. Unfortunately, for a long stretch of time there, this story was virtually dead. I'd write a paragraph here and there, but I've found it very hard to write lately thanks to a vast writing slump. However, after some good, hard work and some brainstorming (along with wonderful encouragement by the love of my life) I was able to put this out. And I'm quite satisfied with it too.

Anyway, go ahead and read! And remember—I own very little besides a few copies of video games. I most assuredly don't own Harvest Moon or any characters within—those are owned by Marvelous Interactive, translated by Natsume!

**Chapter 5: She Wept**

_Beep… Beep… Beep… …Beep… …Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…_

Doctor Tim of Mineral Town frowned. The book he was reading while relaxing in the cushy armchair in his room fell to the ground as he stood. "_Doctor_!" came a cry from downstairs, in the hospital's lobby. He took off, opening his door and hurrying down the stairs as fast as he could manage, nearly tripping more than once, his face already drained of color.

Tim rushed past Elli, who was standing behind the receptionist's counter. She had frozen at the alarm that sounded both behind the counter and up in Tim's room. Why shouldn't she have?

He threw aside the curtains that closed off old Louis' hospital bed and released a cry. "Elli, I need your help!" Elli shook her head and stood, hurrying, trembling, towards Tim. "Start chest compressions!" Elli did as she was told and Tim squeezed Louis' nose shut, lowering his face to his and breathing.

No response.

"Keep going…!" He breathed again and still no response. He knew—he _knew—_that there was no chance. But for the town's sake, he continued to breathe into Louis' mouth.

* * *

"How does Louis do this every day?" Thomas said with a wheeze, leaning against Louis' house, wiping perspiration mixed with dirt off his forehead. He and three other men had gathered there that day, caring for the crops. Zach, though he was not entirely supportive of the town's decisions, was invaluable, as was Gotz, being the mountain man that he was. Rick, on the other hand, Thomas felt wasn't as helpful as someone like, say, Basil would have been. However, taking turns sometimes meant being paired up with people less helpful than others, and Mayor Thomas didn't view Rick as entirely worthless—just of less worth compared to Gotz and Zach.

"I'd say we've about covered it!" Zach called, having watered the last line of budding vegetables. "Ahh, crap, we lost one!"

"What?" Thomas pulled away from the house and walked over to Zach.

"Yeah, it's dead."

"Here's another one!" Rick cried from behind Thomas and Thomas whirled around.

"We must be missing some of them, then!" he said, a bit angrily now.

"Here's two!"

"_Four_?"

Zach placed a hand on Thomas' shoulder. "It's more than four, Thomas." Thomas frowned and looked at him. Zach's expression was grave. Thomas looked back at the crops and a wave of dizziness washed over him.

"They're all dying!" Rick cried, stepping back as a bud dried up and shriveled right in front of him. "Every one of them!"

Thomas moaned in agony and turned around slowly, watching as the field of green turned brown. "No…" he whispered and his knees buckled. "It can't be."

He was allowed no time to further ponder it though as the ground beneath them gave a sudden tremble followed by another, worse than the last. "Earthquake!" Gotz yelled as the trembling grew worse and worse until Thomas' legs gave out underneath him. Zach knelt beside him and the other two huddled around soon after.

The sky went dark and Thomas looked up, seeing that the sunny sky had been replaced by black storm clouds. It began to pour and lightning seared across the sky and thunder clapped loudly enough for Thomas to cover his ears. The house Louis lived in groaned and the windows shattered as its foundation shifted.

Weeds sprouted where crops and grass used to be and rocks large and small pushed aside shaking dirt. Another bolt of lightning blinded Thomas and there was a loud crack, followed by a low creek. At the sound of a crash of sorts, Thomas dared to look and found that a large tree that had been in the center of the farm had been struck by lightning near the base. The tree, broken in half by the lightning, fell to the ground, splinters flying in all directions, only the twisted stump remaining in the ground. Another crash signified that the feed silo's roof had caved in.

The wind picked up violently and dirt began to blow all around them, creating a wet dust storm as the rain continued to pour. And, throughout it all, there was a sound—a moan that was both loud and soft. It reverberated off the farm buildings' walls, through the air, in Thomas' skull, rising and falling, yet never changing. It was as if the entire earth was in pain, mourning the loss of a trusted friend.

Thomas began to sob, even as the wind died and the first rays of sunshine pierced the clouds. It was over. Louis was gone. The farm once blessed by the Harvest Goddess had lost all, worse than it had ever been before. Rocks, weeds, and sticks covered every inch of the field; the buildings were destroyed, the crops gone. The trembling stopped, but the rain continued to fall, no longer a storm, but a downpour.

"And so the Goddess weeps," he said softly, standing up and surveying the ruined farm, tears washed away by the rain. "Come on, we have to notify anyone that doesn't know already. Louis is dead and the farm's blessing is gone."

"Did the Goddess…" Rick trailed off, looking solemnly around at the destruction.

Thomas paused, but nodded. "Yes. I believe so. She blessed it while he was alive and now it has been cursed in his death."

* * *

Jack watered his tomatoes, a deep frown etched onto his features. Miles barked at his feet, but Jack pushed him away with his foot. "Go away, Miles," he said softly. His watering can ran out of water so he turned and walked towards his spout, filling it up again.

Celia hadn't come that morning.

Jack sighed and finished watering his crops as the early morning chill gave way to the bright sunshine, unbroken by patchy white clouds in the sky. The back of his neck began to roast and he shivered slightly as the temperature changed. Schala lowed from within the barn and he sighed.

"Coming," he muttered, walking to the fence and climbing over it, stepping down onto his grass field, which was still patchy, but now had enough grass to feed Schala by herself. He made his way into the barn and went to Schala, patting her nose gently. "Well, at least you're still around, eh, girl?" he said, with a dry smile.

Schala returned his comment with an emotionless stare.

"No, don't worry, I'm not having steak tonight." The stare remained, unbroken by Jack's poor attempt at humor. "Yeah, fine, I'll take you out." He walked to the door and opened it wide, allowing Schala to lumber out of the barn (the stench of which Jack realized with a grimace that he had gotten used to).

"She give a lot of milk?"

Jack gave a start and looked around, spotting Nami leaning on one of his fence posts, her hair as messy as usual, her face showing little emotion, dressed in shorts and a t-shirt, looking at him expectantly.

"Nami? What are you doing here?"

"No reason. Ignore me—I'm sure you have plenty of work to do." However, instead of leaving, she kneeled on the ground to gently pet Miles, who was panting happily and attempting to jump into her lap.

Jack eyed her for a second, confused as anything, and when she offered no further explanation, he considered telling her to get out. However, upon realizing that it was quite a common thing for people to wander onto his farm when they were bored, he abandoned those thoughts quickly. "Well, fine, whatever," he said, turning back to the barn and grabbing a metal pail off the ground just inside the door.

He sought out Schala again, who was standing near the fence, contently chewing on some grass, and knelt beside her, placing the pail beneath her udders and cracking his knuckles. He got to work on milking her and she gave a low moo, but otherwise remained rooted to her place, eating contentedly.

"What's his name?" Nami asked, not looking up at him.

"Miles," he replied.

"Huh. From you I expected something like Rover, Butch, or Woofy." She glanced up at him and Jack honestly couldn't tell if she was trying to crack a joke or just offend him.

"Did you just come here to insult me?"

Nami paused and shook her head. "No," she said a bit softer than usual. "I saw Muffy today."

"She didn't try to get you to pay for your drink last night, did she?" Jack asked, wondering if Muffy had it in her to cheat Nami out of some extra money.

"She told me what you did last night. I'm here to give you the money for the drink."

Recalling how sad Nami seemed the night before, he shook his head, standing up from Schala and pulling the half-full pail out from underneath her lest she kick it over. "Don't worry about it."

Nami ignored him and dug into her pocket, pulling out some coins—the exact change for the drink, if Jack hadn't miscounted. "Just take the money—I don't want to owe you any favors."

"Nami, I'm serious—"

"Take the money, Jack." When he didn't move, she placed the coins on his fence post and turned, walking towards the exit of his farm. Jack sighed and scrambled over the fence, grabbing the money, and walking after her.

"Listen, Nami, we got off to a bad start…" She stopped and he saw her flinch slightly. He frowned and walked around to stand in front of her.

"I'm not taking that money back."

Jack sighed. "Then I'll give it to Murrey—I'm not keeping it."

"Do what you want," Nami said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I don't want your money!"

Nami sighed angrily and glared at him. "Fine," she said, taking the money back. "Next time we're at the bar, I'll buy you a drink."

"You don't—"

"You're _really_ beginning to tick me off," she said, cutting him off. Jack opened his mouth to reply, but hesitated and closed it again, nodding in agreement. "Good." Nami nodded in reply and looked down at Miles, who was standing on two legs, his front paws, scrabbling at her bare legs, leaving small, red scratches.

"Miles, get off!" Jack said, nudging him away with his foot.

"Don't worry about it," said Nami as she knelt down again, scratching Miles behind the ears. Miles promptly sat, his tail wagging, and closed his eyes.

"He seems to like you," Jack said, kneeling as well. "When Muffy came over, he kept growling and barking at her. I think she was about ready to run off the farm when I came outside and called him off her."

Nami continued to dote on Miles for a few more seconds before looking up at Jack. "Are you all finished with your chores, then?" Her voice had its typical edge to it, daring him to say something sarcastic. Instead, he nodded.

"I'll finish milking Schala later after she eats some more and I, uh, I won't have to water my crops again for a few hours."

Nami scooped Miles up in her arms and stood, Jack standing up in turn. "Well, I'm bored. Why don't you give me a tour of your farm or something?"

"You want a tour?" Jack asked, blinking in surprise.

"I thought you said we got off on the wrong foot?"

"Well, yes, but…"

Nami sighed, looking annoyed. "Listen, I'm beginning to think that I misjudged you and might have been too harsh. I'm attempting to fix that. If you'd rather not, just say so and I'll be out of your hair. Won't be the first time, anyway."

"No, no," Jack said, a feeling of guilt creeping up inside him, recalling that he had earlier considered telling her to leave. He held out his hand. "Friends?" Nami eyed him with a blank look—one he took to mean as a denial of such terms. "How about just not mortal enemies?"

Nami's lips twitched just slightly. "That's better." She took his hand firmly in hers, cradling Miles in her other arm, and shook it once before releasing it.

"Does this mean that you'll stop insulting me at every turn?"

"Only if you stop giving me things to insult," Nami said and Jack wasn't sure if she was being serious or not. "Are you going to give me this tour or not?"

Jack smiled a bit, feeling that the bitter edge in her voice had let up a bit. "Yeah, sure. Come on, I'll introduce you to my cow."

* * *

Jack stared at the entrance to Vesta's farm, the plantation intimidating for more reason than one. The fields empty, Jack figured with a weak sigh that Celia was in one of the two main buildings on the farm—the storeroom in which the farm kept crops waiting to be shipped as well as order forms and such or the two-story ranch house on Jack's right.

He took a deep breath and walked through the archway onto the farm, heading for the house. He reached forward to knock, but it opened before he got the chance, and Marlin, looking sour, stepped out. Marlin coldly looked Jack in the eyes and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Hi, Marlin, I'm here to see Celia," Jack began, growing nervous.

"I don't think that would be good," Marlin replied, looking angrier by the second.

"I just want to apolo—"

"We all agree that you've gotten enough of a start on your farm. Celia won't be coming over any more."

Jack's heart fell and he broke Marlin's glare, looking at his feet.

"Can I at least talk to her?"

"Maybe some other day."

"Let me just see her!" Jack said, a bit angry now. "I just need to talk to her for five minutes, okay?"

Marlin flexed a bit and Jack realized that Marlin was both taller and more muscular than he was. "No. She'll come to you when she wants to talk. Until then, you should leave."

"Just… get her for me, would you?" Jack said with a bit of a snarl, the same daring side that got him into trouble in the first place rising up again.

"I said to leave," Marlin said, more forcefully now. He uncrossed his arms and held them both at his sides, fists tightly clenched. Jack stood rooted in his spot, undaunted by Marlin's silent threat.

"If you don't get out of my way, I'll move you _myself_, Marlin!"

With that, Marlin acted, stepping forward and shoving Jack backwards. Jack's heel hit a rock and he toppled over hard onto his tailbone. He groaned softly and forced himself back to his feet, feeling a strong urge to rub his backside, but resisted it. However, Marlin, immediately grabbed him by his collar despite Jack's struggle, and pulled him towards the farm's entrance.

"Let go of me!" Jack cried, wrenching free of Marlin's grasp. Marlin glared coldly at him and Jack realized with a heavy heart that he would not be able to apologize to Celia any time soon. He sighed and turned. "Tell her I'm sorry."

Marlin said nothing, and Jack shook his head, walking off the farm with his head down in defeat. Yet he found out just how bad an idea that was moments later when he collided headlong into someone else. Jack yelled out in surprise and the man let out a yelp as they both fell in a heap on the ground.

"Oh, sorry!" Jack said quickly, pushing himself to his feet, his face reddening in further shame. He heard Marlin chuckling behind him, but didn't turn around to give him the satisfaction of seeing Jack's blush.

The man that Jack managed to trample picked up his thin, rectangular glasses and placed them back on the bridge of his long, pointed nose. He had a long face with an angular chin, black, greasy hair that looked like it had never been brushed before, and a white lab coat that was stained in many spots by multicolored substances.

To top it all off, he looked thoroughly annoyed as he stood up, brushing off his lab coat in a purposeful fashion. Jack found that he was nearly an entire head taller than this strange little man. After ridding himself of the specks of dirt, the man looked at Jack, an angry glare in his eyes, but that faded quickly, replaced by an owlish expression, his eyes blinking rapidly.

"You… are new here," he said softly, as if talking more to himself than to Jack. "Do you live here?"

"Uh, yes," Jack said, surprised at the sudden change in attitude. "I took over the farm across the—"

"Oh! The farm!" A strange, hungry look flashed across his eyes and the man looked back at Jack's farm. "So… am I correct to say that you have the cow?"

"Well, yeah…"

"How would you like to have another cow?" the man asked excitedly, peering up at Jack, his eyes magnified vastly by the glasses.

"Why do you…"

"How would you like to have another cow?" Jack opened his mouth to reply, but then frowned and snapped it shut, utterly confused. "If you'll only let me examine the cow, maybe take some blood, DNA samples, urine… I can clone you a brand new cow in a month!"

"Is… is that legal?" Jack asked nervously.

"What part does government play in farming, I ask! No part! Let me do it. No harm will come to your cow!"

"I… don't think so," Jack said, frowning.

"Then let me improve on its milk-giving! I've created a special pill that if taken will increase a cow's milk three-fold in only a week!"

"Has that been tested?"

"That's the beauty of it! I need a test subject and you need money." The man was nearly hopping with excitement now.

"I never said I needed money…"

"Surely you do!" He stuck out his hand eagerly. "I'm Daryl, your new business partner! You help me and I help you…"

"I'm Jack…" Jack said, shaking his hand hesitantly. "But I don't think… well, I really don't need a clone or anything. My cow's fine."

"Well, then, what about—"

"Ah, no… I'm good. And I'd better head back to the farm. Lots of work to do." Jack hurried away from Daryl quickly, leaving the other man to watch him leave with a scowl. Daryl looked over at Vesta's Plantation and at some of the growing crops. With a quick glance around, he shuffled onto the farm and plucked a tiny tomato sprout out of the ground, shoving it in his coat pocket before hurrying away.


	7. Forgive Me

This chapter is a direct result of a random idea for a one-shot, to tell the truth. And then I thought of making it a one-shot based off my own story. …And then I got some sagely advice from the love of my life to stop thinking of one-shots and think about making it a chapter. And so I did. …And so I wrote!

I do not own Harvest Moon or anything else even closely related to video games! Although I did start trying to make a game with RPG Maker years ago… but it wasn't finished and got deleted, so I really don't own that anymore either. Have fun reading this very short chapter!

**Forgive Me**

_Who is this? I've not met him before._

She watches the man, young and handsome, strong of body and will, as he walks around the meadow. He greets the carpenter as he builds the hot spring, laughs at the antics of the family of monkeys that set up their home in the trees, and peers curiously at her waterfall. He feels an urge to come closer and he obeys it. She smiles.

_He has a good heart. He is a good man._

He works the farm that he inherited from dawn until dusk. Clearing the land, hoeing the ground, planting the seeds, and watering them. Then he moves on to another section of his farm and repeats the process. He works so hard, so admirably. It is more than a farm to him; it is his grandfather's legacy.

_I wish he would visit more often_.

She always watches him. He has grown from the young man into a wiser man, serious and contemplative, yet he continues to smile. He always smiles. Quietly and in secret, she blesses his farm. The moles find elsewhere to burrow, the weeds shrivel, and the crops grow much faster and larger than normal. The farm prospers like never before, and the man visits her daily. And though she doesn't reveal herself to him, she enjoys his presence.

_Is it wrong for me to favor you so?_

The town grows as his farm prospers. She watches as it expands and many more people move in. She walks its streets, invisible to all, and blesses them all with healthy children, abundant harvests, and good weather. Yet there isn't a person in the town that is as blessed as the farmer. She favors him. She loves him.

_I shouldn't, but I do. Oh, how I love you. How I long for you._

But he doesn't love her. When the town expands, a woman moves in and lives across from the farm. He meets the woman and they become quick friends. She watches as they grow closer together and it hurts. On the day that he decides to spend with the woman instead of coming to visit her, she weeps. Yet the blessings continue.

_Don't forget me. Don't replace me. Come back to me._

But she watches as he falls in love with the woman. She is there when they marry and she experiences a desire unlike any other she has ever had on their wedding night—she wishes that she had eyes to close. She wishes to weep, but she doesn't. For the sake of the farmer, for the sake of the man she has fallen in love with, she remains silent.

_How I miss you_.

When his wife becomes pregnant, he visits her once again. Oh, how it hurts her to listen to his prayers for health and safety. She wants to turn away. She is angry with him, but she loves him. The baby is born healthy and perfect. His visits grow rare as before. A wild dog drags a calf away, but his pain, she cannot bear. At once, two cows become pregnant.

_It has been so long since you've visited me._

Panic sweeps over the village. Villagers walk in groups and do not go out after night. The wife agrees not to leave the farm without her husband, but not even the farm is save. Oh, she watches as the wife wanders, the young boy cradles in her arms. She watches as it draws closer. The wife cannot see it, but it sees her. It hungers for her. It will have her.

_Forgive me!_

For the second time, she wishes to be able to look away. The farmer comes home and sees his wife and son. His anguish is so great, his pain so strong! Oh, how she weeps for him! She guides him; she shows him the way. He delivers the town of its reason to fear, at a great cost. He is alone again. He mourns and she mourns with him.

_I'll make you happier than you've ever been before._

His farm prospers more than ever, but the smiles that graced his face are so very rare now. He visits daily, but her heart is heavy. She is guilty. The town and farm prospers, but the farmer grows distant.

_Let me help you._

After years, the pain begins to grow numb. Friends visit the farmer, bringing along with them a young boy. The boy reminds the farmer of his son and he treats the boy as such. Yet, when the lights are out and he is alone, he mourns for the ones he lost. The pain will never truly fade.

_I'm so sorry. I'm so very sorry._

She watches as the years pass. Age takes its toll and she knows that soon she will once more be lonely. He will stop coming to visit her. He grows ill and panic sweeps over the village once more, but she doesn't care. She watches over him as he sleeps in the hospital. He blesses him and watches as he slowly recovers, yet…

_Why won't you let go?_

He continues to recover, but he resists! He wants his wife, he silently begs for death. She watches him and wishes for the third time to be able to look away. But she can't. She obliges his wish. Invisible to everyone, she goes to him and stands over his hospital bed.

_I love you_.

Her lips brush his and he stops. The old farmer Louis dies peacefully in the hospital and rejoins his wife, leaving her alone forever. He will never visit her again. She can no longer watch him. The farm's blessing disappears in his death. She mourns him. The Harvest Goddess weeps for him.

* * *

All right, as you may well have noticed—especially by now—I'm doing things very differently this time around. This story is not even hinting at being a Christian Harvest Moon story, as one is enough for me. The Goddess in this story will be accurate to the Goddess in the game and though she probably won't show up too much any more, I don't want anyone expecting me to turn around and make her evil. The fact is that the games portray her as good—a bit scatterbrained at times and not really _perfect_, yes, but _good_. What I did in Revival and Search was a one-time thing for me and I don't expect to repeat it. Not because I think it was a mistake or anything like that, but simply because I've already done it. 

Secondly, about this chapter… I'm sorry if it was confusing. I did it that way on purpose. If anyone's not sure, it was from the Goddess' point of view the entire chapter and she was speaking of Louis, the old farmer that just died in the last chapter.

Also, I'm hesitant about putting this into my chapter for lengthy author's notes, so I'll just make mention of it. I have posted now in my author's profile a response to concerns of delays between chapters and the slow moving plot of this story. If anyone is concerned about those things, I would direct you to my profile.

That being said, God bless to all my readers!

--Ben, AKA Harvestboy Goobus


	8. Transgressions Forgiven

Well, here's the next chapter, late as usual. You'll have to forgive me for that, though, as working full-time really does drain a lot out of me. Plus, a full-time job has given me something that I didn't have as a poor part-timer… expendable money! ..Which, of course, leads to many games that I still need to finish. Life is _so_ difficult. Wink wink.

Anyway, I won't bore you with details and, hopefully, the next chapter will be pushed out sometime _before_ Harvest Moon DS comes out. Of course, I don't own the game or the characters—I just own single copies! Have fun reading!

**Chapter Seven: Transgressions Forgiven**

"Romana, it would be best if you'd just give me a list of things to buy. The weather is nice, but—"

"You're just trying to win by making me _so_ bored that I wither away."

"I'm not trying to _win_ anything."

"So you say."

The woman named Romana, an elderly woman with white hair tied neatly up and a sharp nose, on which spectacles sat precariously, seated herself in a rocking chair, looking annoyed at the man, Doctor Hardy, who seemed bent on forcing her to sit back and die peacefully in her sleep or something of the sort.

Hardy could only be described by others as terrifying beyond all reason, yet once one spoke with him, that same person that described him as fearsome would call him kind and considerate. He was bald and had a round face and his right eye was black and beady. His left, however, was unlike most people had ever seen. At first glance, it looked like a big, black eye patch covered it, but upon further inspection, one could see that it was a mechanical creation that whirred as the red dot in the center widened and shrunk much like a real eye. To further disfigure this man, a long, white scar stretched from the left side of his jaw, across his mechanical eye, up to the center of his forehead.

Romana peered at him critically and Hardy frowned. "Romana, you are not young."

"I am young enough," Romana said with an insulted tone, forcing herself out of her chair onto trembling legs. She took hold of a bright pink and frilly umbrella that leaned against her equally pink and frilly bed and leaned on it like a cane for support. "I'm going and there's nothing you can do to stop me."

Hardy could only sigh and absently rub his scar. Though he still was still ten years younger than Romana, he could feel age creeping up on him slowly, yet too quickly. He doubted that he would be able to make the journey from Mineral Town to Forget-Me-Not so easily much longer.

Romana, who was already halfway outside the door, looked back at him. "Come along now, I don't trust you in my room alone. I know how you are when you are left alone with a beautiful woman's undergarments." She said this seriously, yet a vague smirk was on her lips. Hardy only sighed again and followed her out, shaking his head.

"One of these days, Romana, you will overexert yourself and have a heart attack," Hardy said warningly, but Romana laughed harshly.

"While that may be so, it won't be for years—and since I will outlive you, you won't be around to gloat."

"Your idea of a game concerns me."

* * *

The next week passed too slowly for Jack. He had still yet to speak with Celia, though he saw her on occasion on Vesta's farm. His heart sunk every time he saw her go into a fit of coughs, but he never went over to the farm. He wanted to believe it was because of Marlin that he didn't go, but he knew his true reason was simply because he was too much of a coward to confront Celia.

_Of course, I couldn't have been a coward when I got that stupid idea to kiss her, now could I have?_ he thought bitterly.

And then, on top of the loss of Celia, some other of the villagers seemed to be giving him a cold shoulder. Though no one said anything to him, Jack could see their glances over at him and his farm while they thought he couldn't see and knew what their quiet mutters to each other contained. Of course it would travel around such a small village quickly that he, the new guy—the city guy—had violated poor Celia. And while most villagers were still courteous enough, Jack found that his numerous visitors were reduced to the occasional visit and that a small number of them had taken to pretending they didn't see him when passing him on the road.

In fact, it was ironic to Jack that the one villager that ignored him before the incident with Celia now visited him more than anyone else. Nami was often at Jack's farm while he worked, never staying too long and rarely actually speaking much with him—she seemed more interested in his animals than Jack himself. However, Jack appreciated the company and no longer paid attention to her consistent insults, shrugging her harshness off as a personality quirk and not a personal attack. In doing so, he found that she was much more tolerable and even a laugh.

"Are you ever going to finish? I come here because I'm bored, not because I want to _be_ bored."

She was a laugh _sometimes_, anyway.

"Well, if you want to go stand in line for Van's shop with all the other villagers…" Jack said sharply, looking away from Schala's udders and back at her.

"I'll pass. If I'm mistaken one more time for a man…"

"Well, perhaps if you acted a bit more like a—"

"Don't finish that sentence."

Jack fell silent and a small smirk was on his lips. For another minute there was silence before he stood up with his pail of milk in his hands. He patted the top of Schala's head and she wasted no time in going over to the spot in the field where the grass grew larger than anywhere else and began to eat.

"What's in that shack?" Nami asked, looking back at the tiny, downtrodden shack beside Jack's empty chicken coop.

"I'm not really sure, to be honest. It's a lot sturdier than it looks and neither Takakura nor I can get the dumb door to budge. I ignore it, most of the time." Jack headed towards the food storage building.

"Maybe it's the place where some murderer stowed the remains of his victim's bodies. This village could use some excitement like that," Nami said with a smirk.

"I think that's exactly what most people came here to _escape_."

"Hmm, you're right."

Jack went inside the food storage room and placed the pail neatly into the refrigerator. He would worry about bottling it up later and walked back outside, only to find Nami leaning against its wall, Miles halfway across the farm, chasing a rabbit that had been stupid enough to venture into his territory.

"Well, come on," Jack said, nodding in the direction of his farm's exit. Nami pushed away from the wall and walked towards the exit, Jack moving up to walk beside her.

Once off the farm, Jack found that, once again, people were milling around the tree that Van set up shop in front of. Near the front of the line, Jack gave a start to see Vesta, Marlin, and Celia. For a short moment, Jack caught Celia's eyes before she looked away. He sighed and followed Nami to the back of the line, where an odd group of people was standing. One of which (Jack had to do a double-take for this one), was a bald man wearing a white suit coat, red and white striped shorts, and bright blue sandals.

The man looked at Jack and he nearly yelled out in surprise, now seeing the scar that stretched from the man's jaw to his forehead and the strange mechanical eye. Jack's face must have shown his shock because Nami began to chuckle derisively.

"Ahh, Nami, keeping well, I expect?"

"As well as always," Nami said with a nod. She turned to Jack after a moment. "This is Doctor Hardy. He lives up in Mineral Town, but he passes through every once in a while."

"Oh, uh, hi," Jack said a bit timidly. He held out his hand and Hardy shook it firmly.

"Don't be put off by my menacing appearance," Hardy said gently. "I've just had a few accidents in the past."

_Just a few?_ Jack thought to himself. He didn't voice this opinion, though, and nodded. A teenage girl with light brown hair pulled back by a yellow headband, dressed in a white t-shirt, blue jeans, and an orange scarf around her neck, looked back at Jack. She looked a few years younger than he was and was nearly an entire head shorter than Jack.

Jack smiled at her and she smiled back shyly, her cheeks turning a bit red. "Ahh, yes, let me introduce you," Hardy said, noticing Jack looking at the girl. "This is Lumina." Jack held out his hand and Lumina shook it. "Sebastian." He motioned to a tall, elderly man with white hair that was parted down the middle and curled at the sides of his head. "And Romana—Romana, stop making faces at that child."

Romana turned around, blinking, and spotted Jack. "Oh, hello! I'm Romana—I live at the mansion at the top of that hill over there. This is my granddaughter, Lumina, and my butler Sebastian. And Hardy is my doctor. You are…?"

"Oh, uhm, Jack. I'm Jack Todd. I'm running the farm." He pointed at the farm and then shook Romana's hand, the owner of which was grinning widely. A smell that smelled a lot like cat litter wafted over to Jack and he resisted the urge to crinkle his nose.

"Good! How are your crops coming along?"

Jack was a bit taken aback by the sudden questions and hesitated for a moment. "Well, they're growing fast. I'm about to plant a second wave of crops now too, so in about a month or so…"

"When they grow, bring a whole lot up to the manor. I'll buy them off you and then you can stay for dinner too!"

Jack smiled a bit sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. However, before he had the chance to reply to Romana, the line in front of them shifted and she hurriedly turned to speak with Van. Since he was right behind her, Jack could hear every word.

"Ahh, Van, how are you?"

"Oh, Romana, you know…" Van tapped his rotund belly. "Getting hard to move around, you know."

"Oh, well, I have good news!" said Romana, grinning. "I just heard of this wonderful new diet called _Matkins_."

Jack listened as Romana explained perhaps the most absurd diet plan that he had ever heard, listing steps such as running into walls eight times a day and juggling fruit. Jack felt that there was no way this diet was legitimate and the way Sebastian and Lumina both tended to look away blushing seemed to confirm that. To Jack's horror, however, Van seemed to soak it all in, taking rapid notes.

"Romana is one of the most mischievous woman I have ever met," Doctor Hardy said quietly as Romana exclaimed, "Make sure to add plenty of vinegar to the bowl!" He shook his head and sighed. "There is no end to her practical jokes."

"I, uh, see," Jack said, smiling a bit wryly. He looked at Nami, whose lips were curled into a smirk.

A strange look crossed Nami's eyes and she regarded Jack quietly for a moment. "Do you have a fishing pole, Jack?"

"What?"

"Do you _fish_?" Nami said, looking annoyed.

Jack hesitated for a moment. Did he fish? Hardly. In fact, he more often than not avoided water at all costs. "No," he said slowly.

"Well, you're going to buy a fishing pole and I'm going to teach you how," Nami said, nodding.

"I, uh, Nami, I-I don't…"

"What? It's not as boring as people think it is and it's a good way to relax."

Not wanting to let half the village know that he'd rather live as a desert nomad rather than touch water, he swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded. Nami gave him a bit of a half smile and stepped up to Van, buying a small notepad and a package of pencils.

* * *

After buying the fishing pole and other items, which they deposited at Jack's house, Jack and Nami made their way up to the meadow that Jack and Celia had been only a few nights before.

"Here's my favorite spot," Nami said, pushing aside some grass and weeds, making her way down to the shallow bank of the river. Jack stood rooted to his spot, suddenly finding his heart pounding painfully in his chest. She was awfully close to the water—if she slipped, she would fall right in. But surely Nami knew this—she knew how to swim. But Jack, however, did not know how to swim, wanted nothing to _do_ with water, and was certain beyond anything that if he went into the water, he would never come out.

"Jack?" Nami's voice pierced his thoughts and he looked at her. She was looking back at him, her arms crossed. "What are you doing?"

"I-I… You know, Nami, I'm pretty tired; maybe we should do this another time," Jack stammered, shuffling his feet.

"What is it?" Nami's voice grew stern and even demanding. Jack thought for a moment to say nothing or to lie, yet in the end he decided not to.

"I… I'm not so good with water."

Nami regarded him for a moment, as if she wasn't sure how to reply to that. "What? Are you allergic? Do you not know how to swim?"

"Well, yes." Jack proceeded to tell her the story of how his sister died. For a long moment, Nami stayed silent, mulling this over in her head, her eyebrows creased into a frown. Finally, she walked up off the bank and stood in front of Jack, looking him in the eyes. He braced himself for what would surely come—the sarcasm and half-serious insults that came with the package that was Nami.

Yet… it never came. Nami continued to watch him closely, her face not sympathetic, but strangely hard. "Do you blame yourself?" she asked without warning. Jack frowned deeply and looked back at Nami. This was the second time he'd been asked that since coming to Forget-Me-Not and it bothered him more than he'd like to admit.

He forced a smile on his face and looked Nami in the eyes. "Nah, I'm not stupid! It was a freak accident, you know?"

"Yeah, it was," she said, her face softening slightly. Her eyes seemed to gloss for a moment and she turned around. "Sometimes, things way beyond our control just… happen."

"No kidding."

A loud silence stretched between them. Finally, Nami shook her head, crossed her arms, and turned to face him. "Well, I'm not going to force you to do any fishing. I'm tired, anyway, so I think I'll go home and take a nap."

"Well, all right," Jack said, frowning at the sudden shift.

"Later." Nami turned, grabbed her fishing gear, and headed down the hill towards the town, leaving Jack standing still in the meadow. Jack looked back at the river and felt his heart sink. He heard a splash and looked around, but a moment later he realized that he never heard a splash at all. Memories flooded his mind's eye and he shook his head, trying not to remember the screams of his parents as he, much younger, was washed away with the current.

He looked at the river once more and noted that its surface was oddly murky and muddy—usually it was crystal clear. He stared at it once more and saw the shadow of a fish beneath its surface darting about, undoubtedly searching for food. He shook his head once more and turned, heading down the hill.

Celia, however, was going in the opposite direction, walking up the hill, towards Jack. Jack's heart seemed to jump into his throat and he stopped walking, his arms at his sides, watching Celia. She, looking at a book nestled snugly in her arms, hadn't noticed him yet.

He looked towards the nearby entrance of his farm, realizing that, if he hurried, he could reach it before even crossing paths with her. He nodded inwardly and took a step forward, his boot coming down on a twig in the path. It cracked and Celia looked up. Their eyes met and neither moved. The silence between them grew and Jack could have sworn he heard his heart thumping heavily in his chest. Or perhaps it was in his throat—that would explain why he found himself unable to breathe, much less speak.

And then Celia's lips seemed to twitch, form a small, barely visible smile. "Hi, Jack," she said and Jack thought her voice was beautiful: a wonderful sound created in Heaven, placed on the earth to bring happiness and joy to all that heard it. It loosened his throat and he took a deep breath, the loud thumping in his ears subsiding.

"Celia…" he croaked, frowning. He cleared his throat, speaking a bit louder and clearer. "Celia, I…"

"It's okay." Jack blinked and gazed into her eyes—those beautiful gray eyes—again. "I'm not upset and you shouldn't be either."

"I-I shouldn't have."

Celia shrugged and smiled a bit more. "Maybe so, but it's part my fault too."

"No, it isn't!" Jack said, a bit too loudly. Celia winced a tad and he frowned.

"I gave you the wrong idea. I like you, Jack, I really do! You're a _really_ nice guy—"

"Don't…"

"You _are_. And a lot of fun to be friends with too! I just…" her voice trailed off and she broke eye contact, looking at the murky river. "I'm not in a place for a relationship."

"W-what do you mean?"

Celia looked at him and smiled. It was amazing how something as beautiful as a smile could hurt so badly. "I'm not looking for a relationship with anyone right now."

"Oh…" Jack said softly, wondering vaguely how long it would take him to get to his front door from here. He could probably reach the barn a bit quicker and hide out in there.

"But I'd like to be friends!" Celia said quickly, taking a few steps forward. Jack looked back at her and blinked when he saw she was only a couple of feet from him. His right hand felt warm and he looked down at them, seeing both of Celia's cupping it. He looked back at her face. "That will be all right, won't it?"

And, somehow, looking into her face, alight with hope and joy, Jack didn't feel his heart shatter. Instead, that was all right, indeed. Friends. He smiled at her and placed his left hand on hers, forming an awkward ball with all four of their hands. "Yeah. Friends."

* * *

In Mineral Town, the ferry pulled into the harbor, lowering its small drawbridge to the dock below. A man in his twenties, a blue baseball cap with a yellow brim twisted backwards on his head, a lock of long brown hair hanging loosely out the front of it, stepped down onto the dock. His brown eyes scanned the beach, finding it deserted.

"Strange," he said softly. A sense of foreboding fell in the pit of his stomach and he held the rucksack slung over his shoulder a bit tighter, walking down the length of the dock and onto the sand. He headed for the entrance to the town.

The man made his way through the town, looking around with a frown. It seemed much too quiet for the late afternoon. The sun was out, making the land warm, yet not too hot. It was the perfect day yet Mineral Town seemed like a ghost town. He found it unnerving.

He passed the Yodel Ranch and neared the poultry farm, hearing the clucking of chickens and a small smile appeared on his lips. He eyed the large barn-house, seeing that nothing had truly changed since he last visited a few years ago. Of course, he hadn't truly expected it to. Mineral Town was the sort of place that rarely changed and, when it did, it was small changes—barely noticeable.

His destination finally came into view and he froze, a lump forming in his throat. Old Louis' farm—the very farm he used to play on as a child—was destroyed. He stumbled a bit and sped up his pace, breaking into a run as he neared the gate. He rushed through it and over to the old house, which he already knew was empty. Some of the windows were broken and the roof had seen better days. The wooden walls were rotting. Regardless of this, though, he pounded hard on the door, waiting—hoping for a sound from within.

Yet no sound came. The man sighed and turned, surveying the farm with wide eyes. It wasn't possible… was it? Louis hadn't returned his letter for a month or so now, but he figured that it was simply because Louis had been so busy with planting and such. But how long would it take the farm to deteriorate like _this_? It wouldn't take even a month—it would take years! The buildings we dilapidated and the field overrun. Even the few trees on the farm looked dead and gray.

"This isn't _possible_…" he said softly, leaning against the house. Someone cleared his throat and the man looked towards the farm's entrance, where the short Thomas was standing. Thomas eyed him suspiciously and inched forward a bit.

"Who are you?"

"Oh, uhm, my name's Kipp. Kipp Narik," the man, Kipp, replied. Thomas' eyes widened and a look of recognition ran over his face. He opened his mouth to speak, but Kipp cut him off. "Where's Louis? Is he all right?" Thomas' face fell.

"Louis… you don't know, then?"

"Know what?"

"He… died about a week ago." Kipp's heart sank to his feet.

"Oh." For a few awkward moments, nothing was said, Kipp not wanting to speak and Thomas not desiring to intrude on Kipp's thoughts. Finally, though, he felt the need to say that which rested heavily on his heart.

"He… Louis mentioned you in his will, you know."


End file.
